Data Analysis: Meaning, Scope, Prerequistes, Free Courses

In this data-driven world, where every business uses data for the day-to-day process, data analysis becomes the primary component of the company. 

Data generation takes place every second by millions of users in various forms -- user inputs, documents, feedbacks, and many more.

But do you know how companies handle such enormous data in an ordered way? Well, thanks to the data analysis process for handling these data and coming up with a solution to improve business.

Let’s fasten your seat belts and get ready for the tour of Data Analysis along with its key topics, including resources for free data analysis courses. 

What is Data Analysis? 

Data Analysis is a process where data is collected, cleaned, processed, analyzed, and presented to improve the business. Data analytics is an integral part of Business Intelligence. 

Data comes in these formats: structured and unstructured. 

Structured data refers to the organized data that is easy-to-understand by any machine. Examples - excel sheets, a database. 

Unstructured data refers to any random data that is difficult to process or even complex to understand. Examples - images, videos, social media activity reports, or any smartphone activity.   

Data analysis takes these data, structured and unstructured, analyzes its behavior, and generates a final report.

This report helps a company analyze its operations and take appropriate actions to boost business. 

Scope of Data Analysis

The people who perform analysis of data are known as Data Analyst. The demand for Data Analysts is growing day-by-day. Every company wants to boost its profit by analyzing which features people use or like to have in their product.

Data Analyst also determines those features which users hardly use, and this report alerts the companies to improve that existing feature or to develop a new one.

The career growth of Data Analysis is excellent, and it will keep on growing. 

Many companies are hiring Data Analyst to help grow their business by using programming knowledge and analytical skills of the individual. 

Prerequisites to become a Data Analyst

 

To start a career as a Data Analyst, you need to have the following skills:

Python / R

1. Python is the top programming language used in every domain ranging from web development to machine learning. 
2. Python is an open-source and easy-to-learn programming language. Python contains many libraries and functions to make data analysis easier. 
3. You can start learning Python by choosing any of the free Python online courses.
4. Alternatively, R is a language for statistical computing. Those individuals with “statistical” knowledge, but no programming experience, can begin learning R for data analysis.

SQL

1. SQL, Structured Query Language, is a programming language developed for managing databases. 
2. It uses queries to fetch the required data from the database. 
3. SQL helps in storing data, formatting it, and querying it to get the required values. In short, SQL helps in extracting and analyzing the data stored in the database.  

Free Courses for Data Analysis

Some many MOOCs provides free courses of Data Analysis, as listed below:

1. Udacity - Intro to Data Analysis
2. Edx - Data Analysis Essentials
3. Coursera - Data Analysis with Python
4. Springboard - Data Analysis With Python, SQL, and R

Thus I can conclude that Data Analysis is a trending career option with many opportunities for individuals. Let’s step ahead to advance our career!

If you have any suggestions or feedback, do let me know by posting it in the Comment section below. 

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