Data Hermeneutics

Analytic Types

Descriptive Analysis

What is happening?

•  techniques

  • explanatory data analysis (EDA)

    • explore

      • What is there?

        • What are the relationships?

      • What is not there?

    • descriptive statistics

      • summarize

        • frequency

        • tendency

        • variability

        • outliers

    • visualise

      • patterns

        • cluster analysis

          • cluster

            • find optimal number of clusters

              • statistics

              • domain knowledge

            • find the distinctive characteristics of a group

      • groups

      • relationships

      • outliers

  • hypothesis for future analysis

Diagnostic Analysis

Why is it happening?

• causal relationships

  • root cause

  • techniques

    • root cause

      • drill-down analysis

      • root cause analysis (RCA)

        • discovering contributing factors

          • define event > collect relevant data > determine contributing factors > find root cause > recommend solution

  • relationships

    • correlation analysis

    • regression analysis

  • hypothesis testing

    • causalities

      • danger of wrong conclusions

    • suggest solutions 

Predictive Analysis

What will happen?

• possible outcomes

  • probabilities

  • trends

• techniques

  • time series forecasting

  • machine learning

    • classification: assign a category to an observation

      • outcome: category

    • regression: assign a continuous variable

      • outcome: value

Prescriptive Analysis

How shall one act?

• possible action

  • decision making

  • process optimisation

  • risk mitigation

  • techniques

    • rule based system

    • reinforcement learning

    • scenario analysis

    • simulation analysis

    • recommendation engine

    • decision trees

    • optimisation

Question

Ask a question at the data, answer it with tables and charts. Make your question:

• for you

  • clear

    1. specific

       • What is the current situation?

       • What do I need to know?

       • What do I want to reach?

    2. unambiguous

  • answerable

Analytical Question Workflow

1. know the strategic business goal

   • company-level

     • target

       • purpose

       • direction

2. define the business question

   • qualitative

   • situation

     • intuition

     • experience 

   • team-level

     • issue

     • problem

3. ask the analytical question

   • quantitative

   • data

     • logic

     • analysis

   • analytics-team-level

     • "SMART" methodology

4. pick the analytical solution viz. tool

   • categorize analytical type

     • select technique with:

       • What is the desired output?

       • What type of data can be used in what quantity?

       • What are restrictions on 

         • … time?

         • … manpower?

         • … expertise?

         • … costs?

5. answer the analytical question with the analytical solution

6. answer the business question

   • communicate results

     • data story telling

Business Analysis Translation

business question ⟹ analytical question ⟹ analytical answer ⟹ business answer

• bridging the gap between general business strategies and processes to specific data and statistics (NB in both directions!)

  • business question

    • stakeholder interview by the analysist

      • communicate

        • ask open questions

        • paraphase

          • trust

          • rapport

        • summarise

          • focus

          • control

      • clarify business terms

        • business context

          • What does the business want to know?

          • Who will use the result?

        • business goals

          • How are the results going to be used?

  • analytical question

    • "SMART" methodology

      • specific

        • focus

          • narrow scope

          • root cause

            • drill down analyis

            • root cause analysis (RCA)

        • breakdown business question

          • refine

            • defined variables

      • measurable

        • defined variables

          • numerical values concerning business question

            • data

              • analysis

                • statistics

              • hypothesis

                • hypothesis testing

      • actionable

        • hypothesis testing

        • supports decision-making

      • relevant

        • connected to business problem

          • address business question

            • extract key information from business question

      • time-bound

        • specific time frame

    •  clarify technical analytical terms

    • analytical framework

      • identify data

      • decide on analytical solution viz. tool

Answer

audience1 ⟺ visualisation1 ⟺ answer1 ⟸ question1 ⟸ data ⟹ question2 ⟹ answer2 ⟺ visualisation2 ⟺ audience2

• Use tables and charts to tell a story about your data that ends in a conclusion.

  • Have the user follow you in your story through the charts.

  • Offer the user the opportunity to come to the same conclusion.

• You can answer different questions about the same data with different tables and charts.

• You can target different audiences with the same data.

Make your answer:

• for the audience

1. relevant

2. actionable