Stages of data analysis GapFill

Data analysis is a process whereby data is turned into useful information. There are several steps needed for this process.

1. Before you can begin analysing the data, it is crucial that you know what you want to find out, and to check that the data is available, or a questionnaire you design will get you the information that you   deleteneedignorehave.

2. The  needanalysissourcescope is a set of constraints that limit the data analysis. All data analysis takes time – and the longer that analysis takes, the more staff salary must be paid in order to produce it.

3. The  needssourcesscopesselections of information vary depending on what data is available, and the type of information that shall be produced.

4. Once the data sources have been identified, the data must be  discussedselectedprocesseddeleted. This could be through selecting data from the MIS, a spreadsheet, or running a query within a database.

5. We then need to select the right  questionnairedata scopehardwaredata analysis tools, such as the right chart, or choose to use regression or choice for trend analysis.

6. Then we need to  sharesourcecopyprocess the data and analyse it – which could be as simple as using a spreadsheet package to create the chart.

7. We can then copy the chart into a word processor and write a few lines of text to explain the data to a busy company director. This is the  scopingrecordingselectingwriting and storing information stage.

Finally, we can  sharesourceanalysedelete the results with others in the company, or send it to other external stakeholders either electronically or in print.