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Data Analysis Terms: A to Z Glossary

Written by Coursera • Updated on Aug 23, 2023

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Common data analysis terms to know for certi cation prep,

interviewing, and resume writing.

Data analysis is the process of working with data to derive useful

information, which can then be used to make data-informed
decisions. Data analysis is generally a six step process: ask a
question, prepare your raw data sets, process your data for analysis,
analyze your data, share your results, and act in accordance with your
data.

Data analysts are data professionals who gather, clean, study, or

interpret data in order to solve business problems. They tend to work
alongside other data analytics professionals, such as data scientists
and data engineers.

This beginner-friendly data analysis glossary can be a useful

reference if you are launching a new career in data or looking to
enhance your data skills.

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Data analysis terms

You’ll nd common data analysis terms in the glossary below.

Attribute

When working in a spreadsheet or database, an attribute is a common

descriptor used to label a column. Labeling columns clearly and
precisely can enable you to keep your data organized and ready for
analysis.

Changelog

A changelog is a list documenting all of the steps you took when

working with your data. This can be helpful in the event that you need
to return to your original data or recall how you prepared your data for
analysis.

Clean data

Clean data is data that is accurate, complete, and ready for analysis.
Data cleaning, an important step in the data analysis process,
involves checking your data for inaccuracies, inconsistencies,
irregularities, and biases.

CSV (comma-separated values) le

A CSV le is a text le that separates pieces of data with commas.

This is a common le type when downloading data les for analysis,
as it tends to be compatible with common spreadsheet and database
software.

Dashboard

A dashboard is a tool used to monitor and display live data.

Dashboards are typically connected to databases and feature
visualizations that automatically update to re ect the most current
data in the database.

Data analytics

Data analytics is the collection, transformation, and organization of

data in order to draw conclusions, make predictions, and drive
informed decision making. Data analytics encompasses data analysis
(the process of deriving information from data), data science (using
data to theorize and forecast) and data engineering (building data
systems). Data analysts, data scientists, and data engineers are all
data analytics professionals.

There are four key types of data analytics:

Descriptive analytics tell us what happened

Diagnostic analytics tell us why something happened

Predictive analytics tell us what will likely happen in the future

Prescriptive analytics tell us how to act

Data architecture

Data architecture, also called data design, is the plan for an

organization’s data management system. This can include all
touchpoints in the data lifecycle, including how the data is gathered,
organized, utilized, and discarded. Data architects design the
blueprints that organizations use for their data management systems.

Data cleaning

Data cleaning, cleansing, or scrubbing is the process of preparing raw

data for analysis. When cleaning your data, you verify that your data is
accurate, complete, consistent, and unbiased. It’s important to make
sure you have clean data prior to analysis because unclean or dirty
data can lead to inaccurate conclusions and misguided business
decisions.

Data engineering

Data engineering is the process of making data accessible for

analysis. Data engineers build systems that collect, manage, and
convert raw data into usable information. Some common tasks
include developing algorithms to transform data into a more useful
form, building database pipeline architectures, and creating new data
analysis tools.

Data enrichment

Data enrichment the process of is adding data to your existing

dataset. You’d typically enrich your data during the data
transformation process as you are getting ready to begin your
analysis if you realize you need additional data in order to answer your
business question.

Data governance

Data governance is the formal plan for the way an organization

manages company data. Data governance encompasses rules for the
way data is accessed and used, and can include accountability and
compliance rules.

Data integrity

Data integrity encompasses the accuracy, reliability, and consistency

of data over time. It involves maintaining the quality and reliability of
data by implementing safeguards against unauthorized modi cations,
errors, or data loss.

Data mining

Data mining is closely examining data to identify patterns and glean

insights. Data mining is a central aspect of data analytics; the insights
you nd during the mining process will inform your business
recommendations.

Data science

Data science is the scienti c study of data. Data scientists ask

questions and nd ways to answer those questions with data. They
may work on capturing data, transforming raw data into a usable
form, analyzing data, and creating predictive models.

Data source

A data source refers to the origin of a speci c set of information. As

businesses increasingly generate data year over year, data analysts
rely on different data sources to measure business success and offer
strategic recommendations.

Data visualization

Data visualization is the representation of information and data using

charts, graphs, maps, and other visual tools. With strong data
visualizations, you can foster storytelling, make your data accessible
to a wider audience, identify patterns and relationships, and explore
your data further.

Data wrangling

Data wrangling, also called data munging or data remediation, is the

process of converting raw data into a usable form. There are four
stages of the munging process: discovery, data transformation, data
validation, and publishing. The data transformation stage can be
broken down further into tasks like data structuring, data
normalization or denormalization, data cleaning, and data enrichment.

Database

A database is an organized collection of information that can be

searched, sorted, and updated. This data is often stored electronically
in a computer system called a database management system
(DBMS). Oftentimes, you’ll need to use a programming language, such
as structured query language (SQL), to interact with your database.

Metadata

Metadata is data about data. It describes various characteristics of

your data, such as how it was collected, where it’s stored, its le type,
or creation date. Metadata can be particularly useful for veri cation
and tracking purposes.

Open data

Open data, also called public data, is data that is available for anyone
to use. Exploring and analyzing open datasets is one way to practice
data analysis skills.

Qualitative data

Qualitative data is data that describes qualities or characteristics. It’s

generally non-numeric data and can be subjective, for example eye
color or emotions.

Quantitative data

Quantitative data is objective data with a speci c numeric value. It’s

generally something you can count or measure, such as height or
speed.

Query

A query is a request for information. It’s essentially the question you

ask a database in order to return the data you want to retrieve. In data
analytics, you’ll formulate your database queries using a query
language, such as Structured Query Language (SQL).

Relational database

A relational database is a database that contains several tables with

related information. Even though data is stored in separate tables, you
can access related data across several tables with a single query. For
example, a relational database may have one table for inventory and
another table for customer orders. When you look up a speci c
product in your relational database, you can retrieve both inventory
and customer order information at the same time.

Structured Data

Structured data is formatted data, for example data that is organized

into rows and columns. Structured data is more readily analyzed than
unstructured data because of its tidy formatting.

Structured Query Language (SQL)

Structured Query Language, or SQL (pronounced “sequel”), is a

computer programming language used to manage relational
databases. It’s among the most common languages for database
management.

Unstructured data

Unstructured data is data that is not organized in any apparent way. In

order to analyze unstructured data, you’ll typically need to implement
some type of organization.

Explore further

Learn more about data analysis from industry leaders on Coursera.

Strengthen your data analysis skills with Google's Data Analytics
Professional Certi cate.

professional certi cate

Google Data Analytics

This is your path to a career in data analytics. In this program, you’ll

learn in-demand skills that will have you job-ready in less than 6
months. No degree or experience required.

4.8

(125,034 ratings)

0 already enrolled

BEGINNER level