Part 4: DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES

Asking the Right Questions:

One of the keys to being a great data expert include asking the right questions. These questions don’t need to be extraordinary; they can be as simple as confirming the obvious.

When you’re given data to analyze, whether the questions are made available or you’re formulating them, it’s crucial to understand the BIGGER PICTURE. This can be achieved by asking the right stakeholders or yourself about the overarching objective. For example, is the goal to solve a specific problem or showcase a trend? Once identified, it’s essential to simplify the general objective into more specific questions.

Many times, it’s important to do this even before fully understanding the data’s content. It’s like foreseeing the end from the beginning. This approach helps you examine the data more critically, preventing you from getting lost in the rows and columns.

Afterward, from the questions you’ve formulated based on the data, you start to see which ones can likely be answered with

just a glance at the datasets and which one might not. Consider it a tentative roadmap or Google map. At this point, you haven’t started analyzing; you’re just visualizing the result in your mind.

Depending on your data’s complexity, you then find ways to understand the data, deciphering what certain variables mean or how the data was originally asked. If there’s proper documentation, you’re good to go; if not, you have to ask the right stakeholders.

Ultimately, from start to finish, a data expert should be curious about the right questions to ask, leading to more usable results.

Resist the urge to jump right into analysis.