Data presentation and analysis

Data presentation and analysis

INTRODUCTION

Data presentation and analysis forms an integral part of all academic studies, commercial, industrial and marketing activities as well as professional practices. It is necessary to make use of collected data which is considered to be raw data which must be processed to put for any application. Data analysis helps in the interpretation of data and take a decision or answer the research question. Data analysis starts with the collection of data followed by data processing and sorting it. Processed data helps in obtaining information from it as the raw data is non-comprehensive in nature. Presenting the data includes the pictorial representation of the data by using graphs, charts, maps and other methods. These methods help in adding the visual aspect to data which makes it much more comfortable and quicker to understand.

Data presentation and analysis plays an essential role in every field. An excellent presentation can be a deal maker or deal breaker. Some people make an incredibly useful presentation with the same set of facts and figures which are available with others. At times people who did all the hard work but failed to present it present it properly have lost essential contracts, the work which they did is unable to impress the decision makers. So to get the job done especially while dealing with clients or higher authorities presentation matters! No one is willing to spend hours in understanding what you have to show and this is precisely why presentation matters!

TOOLS FOR DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

Some of these types include:

• Time Series Data
• Bar Charts
• Combo Charts
• Pie Charts
• Tables
• Geo Map
• Scorecard
• Scatter Charts
• Bullet Charts
• Area Chart
• Text & Images

Time Series Data: A time series is a series of data points indexed (or listed or graphed) in time order. Most commonly, a time series is a sequence taken at successive equally spaced points in time. Thus it is a sequence of discrete-time data. Examples of time series are heights of ocean tides, counts of sunspots, and the daily closing value of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Bar Charts/Bar Graphs

 These are one of the most widely used charts for showing the grown of a company over a period. There are multiple options available like stacked bar graphs and the option of displaying a change in numerous entities. These look as shown in the image below:

LINE CHART

These are best for showing the change in population, i.e., for showing the trends. These also work well for explaining the growth of multiple areas at the same time.

PIE CHARTS

These work best for representing the share of different components from a total 100%. For, eg. contribution of different sectors to GDP, the population of different states in a country, etc.

COMBO CHART

 As the name suggests it is a combination of more than one chart type. The one shown in the figure below is a combination of line and bar graph. These save space and are at times more effective than using two different charts. There can even be 3 or more charts depending on the requirement.

REFERENCES

Judd, Charles and, McCleland, Gary (1989). Data Analysis. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 0-15-516765-0.

Hellerstein, Joseph (2008). “Quantitative Data Cleaning for Large Databases” (PDF). EECS Computer Science Division: 3. Retrieved 26 October 2013.