Stages of data analysis

Stages of data analysis

1. 1) Identify the need

   • By the end of this stage it should be clear what is hoped to be learnt from the project.
   • Includes the information that is required from the completed project.
   • Where the objectives of any data analysis program will be set.

2. 2) Define the scope

   • Defines the restrictions on the project.
   • The overall budget might be set, or the times by which the information be available identified.

3. 3) Identify potential sources

   • Project planners should be able to identify a wide range of sources
   • Ensure that the information gathered is suitable, provides enough information to cover the objectives and is unbiased.
   • The actual source of data depends on the project.
     • Customer surveys can be a good source of opinion about how well the organisation is meeting their needs

4. 4) Source and select information

   • The stage where the information is gathered and the best is selected
   • The selection process is intended to exclude any information that may not be suitable
     • e.g. an interviewer's poor interpersonal skills could have a negative effect on the answers given by some interviewees making the results unreliable or inaccurate
       • This information would skew the conclusions based on that data set. In such a case it would be better if this information were ignored.

5. 5) Select the most appropriate tools

   • Information may be presented in many different ways.
     • Charts and graphs present information visually so that patterns may be identified.
   • Regression analysis considers how changing only one of many different variables affects an outcome.
     • For example the possible impact of an increased population on sales of tins of beans.
       • Regression analysis would try to model the impact of a change in population while holding other possible factors as they were before.

6. 6) Process and analyse data

   • This is the stage at which the data that has been collected is entered into software and analysed.
     • For example data could be entered into a spreadsheet and a graph produced to show the data visually.

7. 7) Record and store information

   • This is the stage at which any report into the findings is written
     • This includes all of the results that have been processed

8. 8) Share results

   • The final stage and is where results are published so that stakeholders can inspect them.
   • This may be in the form of a written printed report or could be pages on a website for example