What is data analysis?
In short, data analysis involves sorting through massive amounts of unstructured information and deriving key insights from it. These insights are enormously valuable for decision-making at companies of all sizes.
A quick note here: data analysis and data science are not the same. Although they belong to the same family, data science is typically more advanced (a lot more programming, creating new algorithms, building predictive models, etc.).
Here's an overview of the Data Analysis process:
1. Define the question or goal behind the analysis: what are you trying to discover?
2. Collect the right data to help answer this question.
3. Perform data cleaning/data wrangling to improve data quality and prepare it for analysis and interpretation–getting data into the right format, getting rid of unnecessary data, correcting spelling mistakes, etc.
4. Manipulate data using Excel or Google Sheets. This may include plotting the data out, creating pivot tables, and so on.
5. Analyze and interpret the data using statistical tools (i.e. finding correlations, trends, outliers, etc.).
6. Present this data in meaningful ways: graphs, visualizations, charts, tables, etc. Data analysts may report their findings to project managers, department heads, and senior-level business executives to help them make decisions and spot patterns and trends.
The great thing about data analysis is that it’s more of an entry-level role, meaning you can jump right in with basic knowledge after you sharpen a few key skills. (Of course, it certainly won't hurt if you already have experience with coding, math, or statistics!)
Becoming a data analyst can also open the door to lucrative careers like data science and data engineering (just to name a few) as you gain more experience on the job.
Why You Should Learn Data Analysis Skills
To see why data analysis is a great career field to get into, it seems only right that we look at the data!
There is anticipated job growth for data professionals: The anticipated job growth for market research analysts (another term for data analysts) between 2014-2025 is 19%, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's a significant amount of new positions being created.
Data analytics is in demand: According to Digital Learning Academy, creators of Introduction to Data Analysis and Statistics Using SQL, “There is a demand for people who can use data to perform reporting and analysis, thus helping businesses and organizations make important and critical decisions.”
Data roles have higher than average salaries: Data analysts are paid well even if they don't continue on to data science or engineering! How much do data analysts make? According to Payscale, entry-level data analysts will receive an annual salary between €40,000 – €77,000 (average of €56,000). Senior data analysts can bump that up as high as €109,000.
There is a competitive advantage: According to Ian Littlejohn, instructor of Complete Introduction to Business Data Analysis, “The ability to ask questions of your data is a powerful competitive advantage, resulting in new income streams, better decision making and improved productivity.”
Universal need (AKA all companies seek data help): According to Symon He and Travis Chow, instructors of Intro to Data Analysis using EXCEL for Beginners, “Every business generates data. But [its value] depends on your ability to process, manipulate, and ultimately translate that data into useful insights.”
Source: learntocodewith.me
