Coursera Google Data Analytics

Course 1 Notes
Week 1

Week 1
Getting Started with Data
What is Data?
Data is a collection of facts.

What is data analytics?

Transforming data into insights

What is Data Analysis?
Data analysis is the collection, transformation, and organization of data to conclude,
make predictions, and drive informed decision-making.

The Six Phases of Data Analysis

1. Ask questions and define the problem.
2. Prepare data by collecting and storing the information.
3. Process data by cleaning and checking the information.
4. Analyze data to find patterns, relationships, and trends.
5. Share data with your audience.
6. Act on the data and use the analysis results.

Understanding the Data Ecosystem

What is the data ecosystem?
Data ecosystems are made up of various elements that interact with one another to
produce, manage, store, organize, analyze, and share data.

The difference between data scientists and data analysts

Data Science
● Data science is creating new ways of modeling and understanding the
unknown using raw data.
Data Analyst
● Data analysis is the collection, transformation, and organization of data to
conclude, make predictions, and drive informed decision-making.
Data Analytics is the science of data

How data informs better decisions

Data can be used to learn more about our customers, increase efficiency, and many
more. We can put data to work in the business with something called data-driven
decisions making.
 Data-driven decision-making = Using facts to guide business strategy

Step in data-driven decision-making:

1. Figure out the business needs
2. Find the data, analyzes it, and use it to uncover trends, patterns, and relationships.

💡Data is important and powerful, but it still requires human experience, observation, and
sometimes intuition. It requires insights from those who are familiar with the business
problem. They’re called subject matter experts.
 Coursera Google Data Analytics
Course 1 Notes
Week 2 - All About Analytics

Week 2 - All About Analytics

Embrace Your Data Analyst Skills
Key Data Analyst Skills
● Analytical skills are qualities and characteristics associated with solving
problems using facts.
Five Essential Data Analytics Skills
1. Curiosity
2. Understanding Context
3. Having a Technical Mindset
It involves the ability to break down things into smaller steps or pieces and work
with them orderly and logical.
4. Data Design
How you organize information, just like how you organize the contacts on your
phone.
5. Data Strategy
Management of the people (they know how to use the right data to find solutions),
processes (the path to that solution is clear and accessible), and tools used in data
analysis (the right technology is being used for the job).

Thinking About Analytical Thinking

Analytical thinking
Identifying and defining a problem before solving it. Its five key aspects are visualization,
strategy, problem orientation, correlation, big-picture, and detail-oriented thinking.
Five Key Aspects of Analytical Thinking
1. Visualization
2. Strategy
3. Problem Orientation
4. Correlation
5. Big Picture & Detail-Oriented Thinking

Explore Core Analytical Skills

During the process of data analysis, sometimes the solutions to your problem won’t be
right in front of you. Therefore, it is important to use a different kind of thinking in order
find the best solution for the problem. Some example on how to solve the problem:
1. The Five Whys
A method to get to the root cause of a problem by asking why five times.
2. Gaps Analysis
A method for examining and evaluating how a process works currently to get
to where you want to be in the future.
3. What Did We not consider before?
 Coursera Google Data Analytics
Course 1 Notes
Week 3 - Learning about data phases and tools

Week 3 - Learning about data phases and tools

Follow The Data Life Cycle
● Data Analysis Life Cycle (The data analysis process includes the
following phases)
○ asking
○ preparing
○ processing
○ analyzing
○ sharing
○ acting
● Data analysis tools include
○ spreadsheets
○ databases
○ query languages
○ visualization software
● Data Life Cycle
○ Plan: Decide what kind of data is needed, how it will be managed, and who
will be responsible for it.
○ Capture: Collect or bring in data from a variety of different sources.
○ Manage: Care for and maintain the data. This includes determining how and
where it is stored and the tools used to do so.
○ Analyze: Use the data to solve problems, make decisions, and support
business goals.
○ Archive: Keep relevant data stored for long-term and future reference.
○ Destroy: Remove data from storage and delete any shared copies of the
data.

Database
A collection of data stored in a computer system

Six Phases of Data Analysis

The data analysis process consist of six stages, they are:

1. Ask
In the ask process there are two important steps:
A. Define the problem to be solved.
We do this by looking at the current state and comparing it with the ideal state
B. Make sure that we fully understand the stakeholders’ expectations.
We do this by first understanding who are the stakeholders in the project. We
can confirm what are their expectations regarding the project’s outcome.
2. Prepare
Where data is stored and collected for the upcoming process.

3. Process
Find and eliminate inaccuracies that could affect the data.

4. Analyze
Using tools to transform and organize the data so we can draw conclusions, make
predictions, and drive informed decision-making.
Some tools: spreadsheet & SQL

5. Share
Data analysts interpret the results and share it with the stakeholders in order to help
them make informed decision-making. Visualization is a data analyst's best friend.

6. Act
Where the business takes all the insights that have been provided in order to solve
the business problem.
 Coursera Google Data Analytics
Course 1 Notes
Week 4 - Set Up Your Toolbox

Week 4 - Set Up Your Toolbox

Mastering Spreadsheets Basic
Attribute
An attribute is a characteristic or quality of data used to label a column in a table.
More commonly, attributes are referred to as column names, column labels, headers,
or the header row.

Observation
An observation includes all of the attributes for something contained in a row of a data
table.

Structured Query Language (SQL)

What is a query?
A query is a request for data or information from a database.
Every programming language, including SQL, follows a unique set of guidelines known
as syntax. Syntax is the predetermined structure of a language that includes all required
words, symbols, and punctuation, as well as their proper placement.
The syntax of every SQL query is the same:
● Use SELECT to choose the columns you want to return.
● Use FROM to choose the tables where the columns you want are located.
● Use WHERE to filter for certain information.

Example of a query
Here is how a simple query would appear in BigQuery, a data warehouse on the Google
Cloud Platform.
The above query uses three commands to locate customers with the first name Tony:
1. SELECT the column named first_name
2. FROM a table named customer_name (in a dataset named customer_data) (The
dataset name is always followed by a dot, and then the table name.)
3. But only return the data WHERE the first_name is Tony
The results from the query might be similar to the following: