Course 1 Google Data Analytics Glossary

Analytical skills

Qualities and characteristics associated with using facts to solve problems

Analytical thinking

The process of identifying and defining a problem, then solving it by using data in an organized, step-by-step manner

Context

The condition in which something exists or happens

Data

A collection of facts

Data analysis

The collection, transformation, and organization of data in order to draw conclusions, make predictions, and drive informed decision-making

Data analyst

Someone who collects, transforms, and organizes data in order to draw conclusions, make predictions, and drive informed decision-making

Data analytics

The science of data

Data design

How information is organized

Data-driven decision-making

Using facts to guide business strategy

Data ecosystem

The various elements that interact with one another in order to produce, manage, store, organize, analyze, and share data

Data science

A field of study that uses raw data to create new ways of modeling and understanding the unknown 

Data strategy

The management of the people, processes, and tools used in data analysis

Data visualization

The graphical representation of data

Dataset

A collection of data that can be manipulated or analyzed as one unit 

Gap analysis

A method for examining and evaluating the current state of a process in order to identify opportunities for improvement in the future

Root cause

The reason why a problem occurs

Technical mindset

The ability to break things down into smaller steps or pieces and work with them in an orderly and logical way

phase 1 of data analysis process

ask — understand the question being answeredp

phase 2 of the data analysis process

prepare — gather and verify data that is accurate and useful

phase 3 of the data analysis process

process — clean and organize data

phase 4 of the data analysis process

analyze — uncover answers and solutions

phase 5 of the data analysis process

share — present findings to decision makers via reports/visualization

phase 6 of the data analysis process

act — put data insights into action

stage 1 of the data life cycle

planning — deciding what data is needed, how it’ll be managed, who will be managing it, and deciding the optimal outcomes

stage 2 of the data life cycle

capture — data is collected from a variety of sources; there are countless ways to collect data (i.e. getting data from outside resources/public datasets, company’s own databases, etc.)

stage 3 of the data life cycle

manage — how data is cared for and stored, the tools to keep it secure, the actions taken to make sure data is maintained properly

stage 4 of the data life cycle

analyze — the data is used to solve problems

stage 5 of the data life cycle

archive — storing data in a place its available but may not be used again

stage 6 of the data life cycle

destroy

Database

A collection of data stored in a computer system

Formula

A set of instructions used to perform a calculation using the data in a spreadsheet

Function

A preset command that automatically performs a specified process or task using the data in a spreadsheet

Query

A request for data or information from a database

Query language

A computer programming language used to communicate with a database

Stakeholders

People who invest time and resources into a project and are interested in its outcome

Structured Query Language (SQL)

A computer programming language used to communicate with a database

Spreadsheet

A digital worksheet

Attribute

A characteristic or quality of data used to label a column in a table

Observation

The attributes that describe a piece of data contained in a row of a table

Business task

The question or problem data analysis resolves for a business

Fairness

A quality of data analysis that does not create or reinforce bias

Oversampling

The process of increasing the sample size of nondominant groups in a population. This can help you better represent them and address imbalanced datasets  

Self-reporting

A data collection technique where participants provide information about themselves