Data: Why, Why, Why, Why, Why

Hey Everybody,

Over the summer I took an online course through Coursera run by Google. It was titled Foundations: Data, Data, Everywhere, and it was about, you guessed it, data. This was the first of an 8 course series called the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate. 

The material gave a basic understanding of the data analysis process and aspects relating to it; perfect for beginners. Google shared a variety of different aspects relating to data analysis including the first, and most important, process. The phases of data analysis are: 

• Ask - find a problem, ask what the root cause is (5 Why’s*), and ask what is the best way to fix it

• Prepare - gather data in order to best prepare you for success

• Process - clean and organize data, get rid of any unimportant data

• Analyze - draw conclusions as to what patterns or absence of patterns you find

• Share - use visuals like graphs to present the data to those facing the problem or other people involved

• Act - actively solve the issue using your new knowledge

*ask what the problem is, then ask why five times after each answer to find the root of the issue

There are a few more processes that I’ll share with you all later but in the meantime I hope you guys check the course out. I’ll be continuing through the next 7 courses and sharing my journey with you all.

Is it pronounced data or data?

Noah