Data Analytics and Visualization: A Comprehensive Guide

Technology has gone a long way in automating previously manual tasks and making everything seamless and efficient. However, technology is known to generate vast amounts of data, which has led to the emergence of numerous fields, all reliant on data and its ever-growing importance. Among them are Data Analytics and Visualization. 

It is no secret that the age of Big Data is upon us, and data drives everything, especially in business. This is where Data Analytics and Visualization come into the picture. While they may be relatively new terms to most people, investing in Data Analytics and Visualization makes the difference between a successful corporation and a failing one. With this in mind, this blog is meant to acquaint you with the knowledge of Data Analytics and Visualization. Let’s dive in!

What is Data Analytics?

As mentioned earlier, the emergence of technology as a critical driving force in every sector in today’s world has led to massive Data Generation. Without Data Analytics, companies cannot make sense of what this information means. Analytics is a broad term that encompasses numerous subfields.

It refers to all the tools and activities involved in processing data to develop valuable insights and interpretations. It is worth noting that Data Analytics is dependent on computer tools and software that help extract data and analyze them for business decisions to be made accordingly. 

What are the Types of Data Analysis?

The Data Analysis technique you decide to go with depends on the kind of information you have. Accordingly, there are two main Data Analysis techniques, namely Qualitative and Quantitative. Let’s see what each means and how they can be of use to your business. 

1. Quantitative Data Analysis

This type of Data Analysis leans more toward the statistical nature of your data. It generally tells you what is happening and whether the trends are showing a rise or fall. Below are the types of Quantitative Data Analysis: 

• Descriptive Analysis: This type of Data Analysis lets you see the patterns and trends in a particular set of data. It includes processes such as calculating frequencies, percentages, and measures of central tendency, including mean, mode, and median. 
• Inferential Analysis: It is used when the differences and correlations between particular data sets need to be examined. The processes involved include ANOVA, t-Tests, and Chi-Square. 

2. Qualitative Data Analysis

While Quantitative Analysis focuses on numeric data, Qualitative is the complete opposite, dealing with non-numeric data such as audio, video recordings, images, texts, and transcripts. In addition, Qualitative Data generally tells you how your data is changing. 

What are the Components of Data Analytics?

Data Analytics components refer to the different techniques you can use for processing any set of data. They include: 

• Text Analytics: This is the technique used in autocorrect in phones and software such as Microsoft Word. It involves analyzing large amounts of text to come up with Algorithms. Applications include Linguistic Analysis and Pattern Recognition. 
• Data Mining: One of the most critical Data Mining applications is determining behavioral patterns in inpatient data during clinical trials. As the name suggests, Data Mining breaks large chunks of data into smaller pieces that fit a specific purpose. 
• Business Intelligence: This is one of the essential processes for any successful business. It involves transforming data into actionable strategies for a particular commercial entity. For example, this is the process behind product placement and pricing in most companies. 

What is Data Visualization?

While Data Analytics is more involved in bringing some form of structure into unorganized data, Data Visualization deals with picturing the information to develop trends and conclusions. In Data Visualization, information is organized into charts, graphs, and other forms of visual representations. This simplifies otherwise complicated information and makes it accessible to all the involved stakeholders to make critical business decisions. 

What are the Types of Data Visualization Techniques?

Like Data Analytics, the type of Data Visualization technique you choose will largely depend on the type of data to be modeled and the purpose. It is worth noting that some Visualizations are manually created while others are automated. Below are some of the popular Visualization techniques: 

• Histograms: This is a Graphical Visualization Tool that organizes a set of data into a range of frequencies. It bears key similarities to a Bar Graph and organizes information in a way that makes it easy to interpret. 
• Graphs: These are excellent tools for analyzing the time series relationship in a particular set of data. For instance, a company’s annual profits could be analyzed based on each month using a graph. 
• Fever Charts: A Fever Chart is an indispensable tool for any business since it shows how data changes over time. For instance, a particular product’s performance could be analyzed based on its yearly profits. 
• Heatmap Visualization: This tool is based on the psychological fact that the human brain interprets colors much faster than numbers. It is a graph that uses numerical data points highlighted in light or warm colors to represent high or low-value points. 
• Infographics: Infographics are effective when analyzing complex datasets. They take large amounts of data and organize it into an easy to interpret format. 
• Dashboards: These are a collection of visualizations and data that are shown together to aid in data analysis and presentation.
• Geospatial: A map-based visualization that uses various shapes and colors to depict the relationship between data points and specific locations.

These were some of the most popular data visualization for data analysis and analytics you can leverage to level up your Data Analytics and Visualization workflows.

What are the Advantages of Data Analytics and Visualization?

Data Analytics and Visualization are a crucial elements of the business decision-making process. It helps the stakeholders to recognize patterns in the data and devise profitable business strategies. Below are some of the benefits of Data Analytics and Visualization:

• Better Decision Making: By using skilled Data Analysts and the right software, companies can identify market trends and make better business decisions to Boost Sales and Profits. 
• Better Insights: Companies can get better insights into their Customer Base- using Data Analytics and Visualization, companies can break large customer data down into smaller sets that can be used to understand the Client Base better. 
• Improving Productivity and Revenue Growth: By looking at the results from Data Analytics and Visualization, companies get to know which areas they need to invest in and what processes need to be automated for better efficiency. 
• Noting Changes in Market Behaviour: With a real-time Data Analytics and Visualization Dashboard, company stakeholders can quickly identify changes in market behavior and make appropriate business decisions. 
• Analyzing Different Markets: Using Data Analytics and Visualization techniques, companies can analyze different markets and decide which ones to place attention on and which ones to avoid. Understanding data aids all STEM sectors, including government, finance, marketing, history, consumer products, service industries, education, sports, and so on.
• Business Trends: This is one of the most valuable applications of Data Analytics and Visualization. It allows businesses to examine the present and past trends to make predictions that determine the way forward for the business. 
• Data Relationships: This is one of the most obvious benefits of Data Analytics and Visualization. It helps companies note the relationships between independent data sets and make business decisions based on these findings. 
• Ease of Understanding: The value of data visualization is straightforward — it allows people to see, interact with, and better comprehend data. Whether simple or sophisticated, the appropriate visualization can get everyone on the same page, regardless of their degree of knowledge.

What are the differences between Data Analysis and Visualization?

Based on	Data Visualization	Data Analytics
Definition	The graphical representation of information and data in a pictorial or graphical format is known as data visualization.	Data analytics is the process of analyzing data sets in order to make decisions based on the information available, which is increasingly done with the help of specialized software and systems.
Benefits	Determine which areas require attention or improvement. Determine which factors have an impact on customer behavior. It assists in determining which products belong in which locations. Estimate sales volume.	Determine the models and patterns that underpin them. Acts as a data source for data visualization; aids in business improvement by anticipating needs Conclusion
Used for	The purpose of data visualisation is to visually communicate information to users in a clear and efficient manner.	Every business collects data; by analysing the data, data analytics can assist the business in making better business decisions.
Relation	Data visualization aids in better understanding.	The datasets’ conclusions will be drawn using data visualization and analytics together. It may serve as a source of visualization in a few scenarios.
Industries	Finance, banking, healthcare, retailing, and other industries use data visualization technologies and techniques extensively.	Commercial, financial, healthcare, crime detection, and travel agencies are all using data analytics technologies and techniques.
Tools	Plotly, DataHero, Tableau, Dygraphs, QlikView, ZingCHhart, etc.	Trifecta, Excel /Spreadsheet, Hive, Polybase, Presto, Trifecta, Excel /Spreadsheet, Clear Analytics, SAP Business Intelligence, etc.
Platforms	Analysis and design, Big data processing, Service management dashboards	Data mining, analysis, and design are all terms that are used to describe the processing of large amounts of data.
Techniques	Static or interactive data visualization is possible.	Prescriptive and predictive analytics are two types of data analytics.
Performed by	Data Engineers	Data Analysts

Conclusion

In this article, you learned what Data Analytics and Visualization are all about and what are the advantages Data Analytics and Visualizations bring forth. Data is becoming one of the most valuable assets in today’s business world, and skills are fast changing to accommodate a world driven by data.

With this in mind, professionals must get the required skill set to visualize and analyze data and make sane and practical business decisions based on this information. So, do not get out of the data movement! Get on board today!

Share your experience of learning about Data Analytics and Visualization. Let us know in the comments section below!