Forming Analytical Questions Flashcards
Business decisions made based on intuition can lead to poor decision-making
true
Value from analytics workflow
- Know the strategic business goals
- Define the business questions
- Form the analytical questions.
- Select the analytical solutions.
- Develop the analytical solutions.
- Deliver the analytical solutions to the business.
Predefined targets that companies want to achieve over a set period
Strategic Business goals
Knowing these goals gives direction and purpose to the teams.
Know the strategic business goals
Business teams define team-level goals based on the strategic goals
Define the business questions
Analytical questions that require the use of data and analytics to be answered
Form the analytical questions
Translation process we are moving from the business environment to the analytical environment
true
Select the right analytical approach or solution to answer the analytical questions
Select the analytical solutions
Develop the analytical solutions. Develop the solution.
The solution is translated back into business terms
Business questions need to be the following:
Broad in scope and open-ended
Aim to provide a high-level solution to a business problem
Analytical questions need to be the following:
Specific and focused on a particular aspect of the business problem
They are formed to help answer broader business questions
Characteristics of an analytical question:
Follows the SMART methodology
What is the SMART methodology:
Specific
Measurable
Actionable
Relevant
Time-bound
Business questions are qualitative in nature and can generally be answered:
Data analytics
Intuition, experience, or expert opinion
Analytical questions can be answered through:
Data analytics and the use of statistical techniques
Importance of the translation process
Identify the data that is needed to answer the question
Choose the best analytical solution that provides business value
Facilitate communication and collaboration
A clearly defined problem will have clarity on the following:
- What the business wants to know.
- What decisions need to be made
- Who will use the results
- Any other information that is important to know
Steps to forming the analytical questions:
Extract the key information from the business question
Break down the business question
Refine the analytical question/s
Review Relevance
What do we ask when we break down the business question?
What do we need to know from the data to answer the business question
Types of analytics solutions
Descriptive Analytics
Diagnostic Analytics
Predictive Analytics
Prescriptive Analytics
Asks the question:
What happened?
What is the current situation?
Descriptive Analytics
Asks the question: Why did it happened?
Diagnostic Analytics
Asks the question: What might happen in the future?
Predictive Analytics
Asks the question: What should we do next?
Prescriptive Analytics
What main techniques are used to solve descriptive analytics?
What main techniques are used to solve diagnostic analytics?
- regression analysis
- hypothesis testing
- root cause analysis
What main techniques are used to solve predictive analytics?
- time series forecasting
- machine learning
- predictive text analytics
What main techniques are used to solve prescriptive analytics?
- recommendation engines
- optimization
- decision trees
Steps to identify the best analytical technique?
- Categorize the analytical question into the relevant type of analytical solution
- Brainstorm relevant techniques
- Select the most appropriate technique
