Data analysis process
Step 1: Ask It’s impossible to solve a problem if you don’t know what it is. These are some things to
consider:
Define the problem you’re trying to solve
Make sure you fully understand the stakeholder’s expectations
Focus on the actual problem and avoid any distractions
Collaborate with stakeholders and keep an open line of communication
Take a step back and see the whole situation in context
Questions to ask yourself in this step: What are my stakeholders saying their problems are?
Now that I’ve identified the issues, how can I help the stakeholders resolve their questions?
Step 2: Prepare You will decide what data you need to collect in order to answer your questions and
how to organize it so that it is useful. You might use your business task to decide:
What metrics to measure
Locate data in your database
Create security measures to protect that data
Questions to ask yourself in this step: What do I need to figure out how to solve this problem?
What research do I need to do?
Step 3: Process Clean data is the best data and you will need to clean up your data to get rid of any
possible errors, inaccuracies, or inconsistencies. This might mean:
Using spreadsheet functions to find incorrectly entered data
Using SQL functions to check for extra spaces
Removing repeated entries
Checking as much as possible for bias in the data
Questions to ask yourself in this step: What data errors or inaccuracies might get in my way of
getting the best possible answer to the problem I am trying to solve?
How can I clean my data so the information I have is more consistent?
Step 4: Analyze You will want to think analytically about your data. At this stage, you might sort and
format your data to make it easier to:
Perform calculations
Combine data from multiple sources
Create tables with your results
Questions to ask yourself in this step: What story is my data telling me?
How will my data help me solve this problem?
Who needs my company’s product or service? What type of person is most likely to use it?
Data analysis process
Step 5: Share Everyone shares their results differently so be sure to summarize your results with
clear and enticing visuals of your analysis using data via tools like graphs or dashboards. This is your
chance to show the stakeholders you have solved their problem and how you got there. Sharing will
certainly help your team:
Make better decisions
Make more informed decisions
Lead to stronger outcomes
Successfully communicate your findings
Questions to ask yourself in this step: How can I make what I present to the stakeholders engaging
and easy to understand?
What would help me understand this if I were the listener?
Step 6: Act Now it’s time to act on your data. You will take everything you have learned from your
data analysis and put it to use. This could mean providing your stakeholders with recommendations
based on your findings so they can make data-driven decisions.
Questions to ask yourself in this step: How can I use the feedback I received during the share phase
(step 5) to actually meet the stakeholder’s needs and expectations?
These six steps can help you to break the data analysis process into smaller, manageable parts,
which is called structured thinking. This process involves four basic activities:
Recognizing the current problem or situation
Organizing available information
Revealing gaps and opportunities
Identifying your options
When you are starting out in your career as a data analyst, it is normal to feel pulled in a few
different directions with your role and expectations. Following processes like the ones outlined here
and using structured thinking skills can help get you back on track, fill in any gaps and let you know
exactly what you need.
