Data analysis process

This program is split into courses, six of which are based upon the steps of data analysis: ask, prepare, process, analyze, share, and act.

Ask

In this phase, we do two things:

• define the problem to be solved

  You look at the current state and identify how it's different from the ideal state.

  Usually there's an obstacle we need to get rid of or something wrong that needs to be fixed.

• make sure that we fully understand stakeholder expectations.

  Determine who the stakeholders are. That may include your manager, an executive sponsor, or your sales partners.

  They help make decisions, influence actions and strategies, and have specific goals they want to meet. They also care about the project.

Stakeholders hold a stake in the project. They are people who have invested time and resources into a project and are interested in the outcome.

Prepare

This is where data analysts collect and store data they'll use for the upcoming analysis process.

Process

Data analysts find and eliminate any errors and inaccuracies that can get in the way of results.

This usually means cleaning data, transforming it into a more useful format, combining two or more datasets to make information more complete and removing outliers,

Analyze

Analyzing the data you've collected involves using tools to transform and organize that information so that you can draw useful conclusions, make predictions, and drive informed decision-making.

Share

Data analysts interpret results and share them with others to help stakeholders make effective data-driven decisions.

Visualization is a data analyst's best friend.

Act