Module 1

Question 1

What is data?

Answer 1

A collection of facts.

Question 2

What is data analysis?

Answer 2

The collection, transformation, and organization of data to draw conclusions, make predictions, and drive informed decision-making.

Question 2

What does data include?

Answer 2

Numbers, pictures, videos, words, measurements, and observations.

Question 3

How do we create data? Give two examples.

Answer 3

Using your phone: Every call, text, and app interaction.
Browsing online: Your search history, website visits, and online purchases.
Streaming music: The songs you listen to and playlists you create.
Using credit cards: Every purchase you make adds to a record of data.
Posting on social media: Your posts, likes, and comments all become part of massive datasets.
Using a GPS: Mapping a route or using navigation apps generates location data.

Question 4

What is data analytics?

Answer 4

The science of data.

Question 5

What is the data analysis process?

Answer 5

1. Ask
2. Prepare
3. Process
4. Analyze
5. Share
6. Act

Question 6

Why do businesses need a way to control data?

Answer 6

So they can improve processes, identify opportunities and trends, launch new products, serve customers, and make thoughtful decisions.

Question 7

Why do companies hire data analysts?

Answer 7

To control the waves of data they collect every day, make sense of it, and then draw conclusions or make predictions.

Question 8

What is a good way to think about analysis?

Answer 8

Turning data into insights.

Question 9

After analysts have created insights from data, what happens?

Answer 9

Those insights are shared with others, decisions are made, and businesses take action.

Question 10

What is people analytics?

Answer 10

The practice of collecting and analyzing data on the people who make up a company’s workforce in order to gain insights to prove how the company operates.

Question 11

Explain the data analysis process.

Answer 11

Ask: Define the problem or question you’re trying to solve.
Prepare: Gather the data needed from relevant sources.
Process Clean and organize the data to ensure accuracy and usability.
Analyze: Examine the data to uncover trends, patterns, and insights.
Share: Communicate your findings to decision-makers using reports, presentations, or visualizations.
Act: Implement recommendations and solutions based on the data insights.

Question 12

What is data science?

Answer 12

Creating new ways of modeling and understanding the unknown by using raw data.

Question 13

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 13

A group of elements that interact with one another.

Question 14

What is a data ecosystem?

Answer 14

The various elements that interact with one another in order to product, manage, store, organize, and share data.

Question 15

What does the data ecosystem include?

Answer 15

Hardware, software, and people, and often utilizes cloud-based storage for accessibility.

Question 16

What is a cloud, and what does it refer to?

Answer 16

A place to keep data online, rather than a computer hard drive.
Instead of storing data somewhere inside your organization’s network, that data is accessed over the internet. It refers to the virtual location.

Question 17

What is the job of a data analyst?

Answer 17

Their job is to harness the power of that data ecosystem, find the right information, and provide the team with analysis that helps them make smart decisions.

Question 18

What do data scientists do?

Answer 18

They develop new models and insights with raw data, while data analysts answer existing questions using data sources.

Question 19

What is data-driven decision-making?

Answer 19

Using facts to guide business strategy.

Question 20

Give an example of data-driven decision-making.

Answer 20

Streaming services use data to analyze preferences, enabling them to suggest content that aligns with individual tastes and keeps them engaged.

Question 21

What is the first step in data-driven decision-making?

Answer 21

Figuring out the business ness, the problem that needs to be solved.

Question 22

What is a data analyst’s role in the process of data-driven decision-making?

Answer 22

They uncover trends and patterns, which can either reinforce existing strategies or guide businesses in entirely new directions.

Question 23

What is a subject matter expert?

Answer 23

Subject matter experts are individuals who provide valuable context, identify inconsistencies in data, and contribute to well-rounded decision-making.

Question 24

What is gut instinct?

Answer 24

Is an intuitive understanding of something with little to no explanation.

Question 25

What are analytical skills?

Answer 25

Qualities and characteristics associated with solving problems using facts.

Question 26

What are the five essential analytical skills?

Answer 26

1. Curiosity
2. Understanding context
3. Having a technical mind
4. Data design
5. Data strategy

Question 27

What is context?

Answer 27

The condition in which something exists or happens; can be a structure or an environment

Question 28

What is a technical mindset?

Answer 28

Involves the ability to break things down into smaller steps or pieces and work with them in an orderly and logical way.

Question 29

What is an example of a technical mindset?

Answer 29

When paying your bills, you break down the process into smaller steps.
1. Sort them by due date.
2. Add them up and compare the amount to the balance in the bank account, which helps to see if you can pay the bills now or wait for next paycheck.
3. Finally, you pay the bills.

Question 30

What is data design?

Answer 30

How you organize information.

Question 31

As a data analyst, what does data design refer to?

Answer 31

A database.

Question 32

What is an example of data design?

Answer 32

The way contacts on a phone is organized; listed by first names instead of last, or or email addresses instead of names.

Question 33

What is data strategy?

Answer 33

The management of the people, processes, and tools used in data analysis.
1. You manage people by making sure they know how to use the right data to find solutions to the problem you’re working on.
2. For processes, it’s about making sure the path to the solution is clear and accessible.
3. For tools, you make sure the right technology is being used for the job.

Question 34

What is analytical thinking?

Answer 34

It involves identifying and defining a problem and then solving it by using data in an organized, step-by-step manner.

Question 35

What are key aspects of analytical thinking?

Answer 35

Visualization, strategic thinking, problem-orientation, correlation, big-picture and detail-orrientated thinking.

Question 36

What is visualization?

Answer 36

Utilizing visual aids like graphs and maps to understand and communicate information more effectively.

Question 37

What is strategic thinking?

Answer 37

Having a clear plan to achieve specific goals with data and ensuring the data collected is relevant and valuable.

Question 38

What is problem-orientation?

Answer 38

Focusing on identifying and understanding the problem throughout the data analysis process.

Question 39

What is correlation?

Answer 39

Recognizing relationships between different data points, two or more, to uncover potential patterns and trends.

Question 40

What is big-picture and detail-orrientated thinking?

Answer 40

Balancing the ability to see the overall context while also paying attention to specific details within the data.

Question 41

What does data analysis require in terms of thinking skills?

Answer 41

A blend of analytical, creative, and critical thinking skills.

Question 42

What is a root cause?

Answer 42

The reason why a problem occurs.

Question 43

What is gap analysis?

Answer 43

A method for examining and evaluating how a process works currently in order to get where you want to be in the future. The general approach is to understand where you are now compared to where you want to be; then you can identify the gaps that exist

Question 44

How do you reveal the root cause?

Answer 44

By using the Five Whys technique, ask why five times to reveal the root cause. By the fifth, you should have the final answer and get some useful and sometimes surprising insights.

Question 45

Why do businesses conduct gap analysis?

Answer 45

To improve the product and/or become more efficient.