How to be a Data Analyst

Booklet Guide
From zero to hero level with your Data Analyst Saver !

Written By : Reem Al-Ashhab

Revised : Fahad Masood Reda

Version 1
 How to be a Data Analyst

About the Author

Reem Alashhab is a Data Analyst – self learned, and she is at the same time a content creator in the eld of Data
Science. Her background is in Management Information Systems. She is very ambitious, passionate and enthusiastic
Data Analyst known as a Data Analyst Superhero who uses the power of Python and R to get valuable insights from any
data in her hands!
 How to be a Data Analyst

Table of Content
Introduction. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................1
Data Analyst, Data Scientist , and Data Engineer who are they ?.......................................................................................................................2
How data analysis is done ?............................................................................................................................................................................................3
What is the secret recipe of a data analyst ?............................................................................................................................................................4
Study plan for data analysis ...........................................................................................................................................................................................6
Data analysis nanodegree program...............................................................................................................................................................................7
Datacamp ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................8
365 Data Science .............................................................................................................................................................................................................9
Data Analysis Plan of study ..........................................................................................................................................................................................12
Introduction to Programming........................................................................................................................................................................................13
Introduction to Python ...................................................................................................................................................................................................14
Introduction to SQL.+ Database Design ....................................................................................................................................................................15
Introduction to SQL..........................................................................................................................................................................................................17
Database Design...............................................................................................................................................................................................................18
Practical Statistics .........................................................................................................................................................................................................19
Introduction to R...............................................................................................................................................................................................................20
Data Wrangling .................................................................................................................................................................................................................21
Data Story Telling : Power BI.........................................................................................................................................................................................22
Data Story Telling : Power BI.........................................................................................................................................................................................23
Data Analysis in Excel......................................................................................................................................................................................................24
Suggested Books in Data Analysis ..............................................................................................................................................................................25
Conclusion + References ............................................................ ...................................................................................................................................25
Thank You + Contact Info...............................................................................................................................................................................................26
 How to be a Data Analyst

Introduction
I want to be a Data Analyst as soon as possible as everyone is quickly involved in this eld posting their online
certi cates on LinkedIn !
A beautiful wish , but some really great wishes needs great time to become real ones !

I have heard the above wish so many times that I can’t count ! Therefore , as my role is a Data Super Hero , I will take
your hand out of all that chaos ! I will help you to become your own DATA SUPER HERO !

In this booklet ,I will brie y talk about the real characteristics of a data analyst and discuss the technical and soft skills
of a data analyst. In addition, I will take you through the data analysis process and the core curriculum combined with
courses and books to sharpen your analysis skills, and help you be to be your own data analyst super hero!

In the eyes of a Data Analyst, the world is an open book lled with data that if analyzed it will tell
the story of life.

— Reem Al-Ashhab

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Data Analyst , Data Scientist , Data Engineer

Who ARE THEY ?

A Data Analyst : is the one who is able to extract useful insights from a given data set. The data analyst can help
companies to analyze market trends, nd customers’ needs, and asses their overall performance. A data analyst can
summarize data and help top authorities to take decisions. The most used tools for a data analyst are Python, SQL and
Excel.

A Data Scientist : is the one who uses his or her knowledge in statistics, programming, and machine learning to make
predictions of the future. A data scientist is able to use machine learning algorithms to understand data patterns and
create questions to be answered after data transforming and cleaning. The common tools for a data scientist are R,
Python, SAS, SQL, and No-SQL.

Data Engineer : is the one who is able to gather or prepare data for a data analyst or a data scientist for further
exploration and analysis. A data engineer is able also to create and maintain platforms for data processing . In other
words, he or she can provide the best work environment for data various operations. The common tools for a data
engineer are Java, SQL, No-SQL, Hadoop, and Apache Spark.

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 How to be a Data Analyst

How data analysis is done ?

If you ever wondered what a Data Analyst do , you have to know the following :
It takes time to gather, asses and clean data, but the best part is when you extract the gold (Information) out of the
deep ocean of data !

1. Data Gathering : Gathering data is the rst step in the data wrangling process; it involves obtaining data (downloading
a le from the internet, scraping a web page, querying an API, etc.), and then importing that data into a programming
environment (e.g. Jupyter Notebook, R studio, Pycharm, and Spark).

2. Data Assessing : After gathering data required , the next step will be assessing this data. Data is inspected for two
things: data quality issues (i.e. content issues) and lack of tidiness (i.e structural issues) before moving into the cleaning
phase.

3. Data Cleaning : Cleaning data is the third step in data wrangling, where the quality and tidiness issues that were
identi ed previously are solved by the help of a programming language like Python or R.

4. Wrangling and Analyzing Data : In this phase, the data that was previously gathered, assessed and cleaned will be
visualized using the graphs and gures by the help of a programming language library (e.g. Python that includes libraries
like matplotlib and seaborn).

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 How to be a Data Analyst

What is the secret recipe of a data analyst ?

In this part, I want you to feel how it’s like to be a data analyst .And understand what kind of a person is a data
analyst? Is he or she a mathematician? A statistical scientist? or A programmer? I know that you want the secret
recipe , so here it is !

· Creativity: When I rst started to dig deep in the data science eld, I was so worried of the variety of the things
that I have to learn. There are many programming languages, many statistical methods, and many math equations. I
asked myself how I’m supposed to learn and remember all of this?! And while I was working on di erent projects, I
used to think of how to solve the challenge here. I started to google and look for answers everywhere. Then, I realized
that there are so many solutions and so many tools to help me solve them. I reached the conclusion that You as a
Data Analyst have to be exible enough to do experiments and try di erent solutions to nd answers. As time passes,
you will have a lot of experiences that build your creativity in some way or another. So, remember a Data Analyst is a
creative person who try and creates di erent ways to solve a problem!

· Curiosity: Webster said “At the end of the day, what you really want is someone who’s curious, who enjoys drilling
into data and spending a lot of time with it, hours on end, and coming up with a big insight that fuels the
development of a strategy”. While working on various data analysis projects, I found myself asking so many questions
about the data in my hand, nding interesting answers , and then asking again new questions! I literally became a
data detective! So, are you willing to be the same? Are you ready for a long journey of chasing the truth everywhere
and every time? Does the possibility of failure scare you if you don’t nd the answers you are looking for?

· E ective communication skills: In one of my previous job interviews, I was presenting a data analysis project to
several people in the company. On one slide, I was explaining a graph, and then one of the audience told me “I don’t
get the meaning of the graph! What are you trying to say?”. At that moment, I realized that story telling is de nitely a
skill I should work on more! Zhang said “Storytelling is a very important skill—to [be able to] translate the numbers,
the metrics, into very clear and straightforward, actionable and engaging stories”. So, why should a Data Analyst care
about communication? The simple direct answer is to make people trust your results! No one will trust your numbers
and graphs if you don’t know how to explain them well ! Therefore, remember communication, then communication
and nally communication!

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 How to be a Data Analyst

. Continues Learning: Through my learning journey, I faced many and many challenges I didn’t know how to overcome. I
put my e ort and time to solve projects I have never done before. In all my work, I had to search and nd articles, videos,
and courses. Eventually, I found myself in a non-ending loop of continues learning. At rst, I thought am I doing
something wrong? Is this normal for any data analyst? And even in another days, I found myself forgetting how I solved a
previous challenge! I had to go back through my previous work and study it again! Then I reached the conclusion that it’s
totally normal. A Data Analyst must be always hungry for more and more as data is growing more and more at every
second!

· Statistical and technical expertise: Should I know statistics? What should I learn rst Python or R? All these questions
and others are very important to be answered before you dig deep in the data analysis and become an expert. Many
people in this process will feel lost and eventually walk away because they can’t clear this chaos. My answers for all the
above questions are as the following: Yes, you have to learn statistics continuously! It’s normal to forget what you learn,
but do your best to build a strong statistical background. For the question, which programming languages should I start
to learn? You should specify your objectives. Do you want to start a new career? If yes, then study the market very well.
If you know R, you may not use it because the IT Department team in the company prefers Python and vice versa! (Note:
this is just a self-made example, and not a real fact!). On the other hand, if you want to work as a freelancer, you will
need also to study the market and nd the gap that you can ful ll. There’s no certain answer; it actually depends on what
objectives you want to work on! Final note for you to remember: There is no perfect programming language! All
programming languages serve di erent purposes, so please be very clear of what you are trying to achieve !

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Study Plan for Data Analysis

At the beginning of your learning journey, you will nd many fake ads that tell you that you can be a data analyst in one
month, I’m telling you from now their claim is absolutely the opposite of the truth! I have spent nearly 6 months in data
analysis, and I still feel that I don’t know anything! Let me tell you why you will never feel that you know everything
because simply the data science road doesn’t have an end ! You have to develop your skills over each day of your
precious life!

Therefore, let’s go immediately over the study plan for data analysis! The provided plan is taken from Udacity
Nanodegree for ‘Data Analyst’ and improved by me. This study plan is the best to follow from my experience as a
beginner in data science eld. However, the course itself is a little bet costly for some people. For this reason, I will
provide also free courses as an option for people who can’t a orded it, but let's us rst evaluate the Nanodegree
program.

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Data Analysis Nanodegree Program

Anyone asking me '' How did you start as a data analyst ?'' I tell them I studied at Udacity. To be honest, I didn't feel lost
while studying the data analyst nanodegree because the path of study and everything was very clear for me ! I tried other
platforms such as Datacamp. Datacamp has other advantages that make it a really good platform for anyone interested
data science. However, the best of the best stills the ' Data Analyst Nanodegree program' at Udacity ! Additional note
for non-programmers, don't jump into this course before taking some programming courses rst !

ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

4 Months At 10 hrs/week Fundamentals of programming

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 How to be a Data Analyst

FEATURES COST

1. Short videos. Pay as you go : After your 7 days trial, pay 400$ /month
2. External resources.
3. Short quizzes. OR
4. Real - world projects from industry experts. Pay 1,439 $ for 4 months.
5. Technical mentor support
6. Personal career coach and career services
7. Interview preparations
8. Resume services
9. Github review
10. LinkedIn pro le review
11. Full path of study

COURSE LINK COURSE SYLABULS

https://cutt.ly/qgvIlZ0 https://cutt.ly/igwAgBK

Datacamp
Datacamp is a really good alternative for Udacity. Datacamp has more diverse courses than Udacity. It also o ers more
than 80 projects related to data science to work on.

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 How to be a Data Analyst

ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

8 weeks At 8 hrs/week Fundamentals of programming

FEATURES COST

1. Video Lessons combined with real-time practices. Free: 0$ Standard : $156 per year.
2. More than 80 real Projects to work on ( I usually Premium : $ 399 per year.
spend 1-2 hours only to complete a project ).
3. Online practices and assessments to sharpen your
skills.
4. Various articles related to Data Science.
5. Data Science Podcast.

COURSE LINK COURSE SYLABULS

https://cutt.ly/ogvIYfb https://learn.datacamp.com/career-tracks/data-analyst-with-
python

365 Data Science

365 Data Science is de nitely one of the best platforms to start as a Data Analyst besides Udacity . Their way of
presenting includes motion graphic characters. If you subscribed to their platform , you will be led by them through all
the path as both a data scientist and data analyst.

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 How to be a Data Analyst

ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

6-12 months Fundamentals of programming and Mathematics

At 10 hrs/week

FEATURES COST

1. Learn from a structured curriculum. After your 7 days trial, pay 36 $ /month or 348 $ per
2. Bring theory into practice. year
3. Earn veri able certi cates.

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 How to be a Data Analyst

COURSE LINK COURSE SYLABULS

https://cutt.ly/bgvIOj1
1. Intro to Data and Data Science
2. Intro to Microsoft Excel
3. Statistics
4. Probability
5. Introduction to Python
6. Mathematics
7. Intro to Programming
8. Tableau
9. Power BI
10. Advanced Statistical Methods in Python
11. Deep Learning with TensorFlow
12. Time Series Analysis with Python.
13. SQL
14. Advanced Microsoft Excel
15.SQL+Tableau
16. Git and Github
17. Machine Learning with Python
18. Deep Learning with TensorFlow 2.0
19.Customer Analytics in Python
20.Web Scrapping with Python
21. Python for Finance
22. Data Preprocessing with NumPy
23.Product Management for AI & Data Science
24.Starting a Career in Data Science: Project Portfolio,
Resume, and Interview Process
25. Credit Risk Modeling
26. Introduction to Business Analytics

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Data Analysis Plan of Study

In this section, I will present the map of study that's implemented by Udacity for the data analysis nanodegree program
accombined with suggested free and paid courses.

1. Introduction to Programming.
2. Introduction to Python.
3. Introduction to SQL.
4. Database Design ( Optional ).
5. Practical Statistics.
6. Introduction to R (Optional).
7. Data Wrangling.
8. Data Story Telling.
9. Data Analysis in Excel. (Industry requirement ).

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Introduction to Programming

This section is purely for beginners in the programming eld. Before diving in the data analysis eld, you must learn how
to use some tools rst ! One of the best courses to learn fundamentals of programming is CS50 . The course is
presented by Oxford university ! So imagine how the course will be ! This course is the best course to start from zero to
hero ! Check the course reviews online if you wish !

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 How to be a Data Analyst

ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

12 weeks None
Effort : 6–18 hours per week

Course Overview COST

1. You will learn how to think algorithmically and solve FREE Add a Veri ed Certi cate for $90 USD
programming problems related to Computer Science.

2. You will learn signi cant concepts such as

abstraction, data structures, algorithms, encapsulation,
security, resource management , software engineering
and web development.

3. You will learn in a number of programming languages

such as C, Python, SQL, and JavaScript plus CSS and
HTML.

COURSE LINK FEATURES

1. Well explanation for programming concepts.
https://cutt.ly/kgvIVZu 2. Projects to work on after each section or chapter.
3. Valid certi cate from Harvard University.

Introduction to Python
Now, you will tell me why to learn Python and not R ? To answer your question , I recommend Python because it's very
easy and highly requested in the job market while R Language is more into research and academics . However, in this
booklet, you will nd both options to choose your own path ! I recommend the Python course to be taken at Datacamp
platform.
ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

4 weeks Programming fundamentals

Effort : 4 hours per week

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 How to be a Data Analyst

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN COST

You’ll learn how to import, clean, manipulate, and Free: 0$

visualize data—all integral skills for any aspiring data Standard : $156 per year.
professional or researcher. Through interactive Premium : $ 399 per year.
exercises, you’ll get hands-on with some of the most
popular Python libraries, including pandas, NumPy, For More details check : https://cutt.ly/LgeMu2y
Matplotlib, and many more.

COURSE LINK FEATURES

https://cutt.ly/ogvIYfb 1. Video Lessons combined with real-time practices.

2. Real Projects to work on ( I usually spend 1-2 hours
Note : your subscription will gain you access to more only to complete a project ).
career paths such as python for data scientist .
3. Online practices and assessments to sharpen your
skills.
COURSES TO BE TAKEN
4. Various articles related to Data Science.
5. Data Science Podcast.
1. Python Fundamentals ( select this option from Skills Tracks
section).

Introduction to SQL+ Database Design

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 How to be a Data Analyst

You may now ask yourself : why to learn SQL and Database design ? isn't the job of a Data Engineer ? I will simply tell
you that sometimes a Data Analyst might need to get data by himself or herself to be ready for any circumstances .
Therefore, just learn them both at Datacamp under the Data Analyst with SQL Server
ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

6-8 weeks Programming fundamentals

Effort : 8 hours per week

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN COST

You’ll learn how to import, clean, manipulate, and Free: 0$

visualize data—all integral skills for any aspiring data Standard : $156 per year.
professional or researcher. Through interactive Premium : $ 399 per year.
exercises, you’ll get hands-on with some of the most
popular Python libraries, including pandas, NumPy, For More details check : https://cutt.ly/LgeMu2y
Matplotlib, and many more.

COURSE LINK FEATURES

https://cutt.ly/ogvIYfb 1. Video Lessons combined with real-time practices.

2. Real Projects to work on ( I usually spend 1-2 hours
Note : your subscription will gain you access to more only to complete a project ).
career paths such as python for data scientist .
3. Online practices and assessments to sharpen your
skills.
4. Various articles related to Data Science.
5. Data Science Podcast.

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Introduction to SQL

''' The Complete SQL Bootcamp 2020: Go from Zero to Hero ''' course on Udemy is one of the top rated courses. The
course is very good for beginners as you will nd all concepts well explained and demonstrated.

ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

1-2 weeks No prior technical experience is required

Effort : 8 hours per week

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN COST

1. How to write complex queries to a database $189.99

using PostgreSQL, which is one of the most in demand
skills - PostgreSQL.

Note : These skills are also can be used with other major SQL
database : such as MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Amazon Redshift,
Oracle, and much more.

COURSE LINK FEATURES

https://cutt.ly/JgvI1Gt 1. 9 hours on-demand video

2. 15 articles
3. 10 downloadable resources
4. Full lifetime access
5. Access on mobile and TV
6. Certi cate of completion

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Database Design

If you are not interested in investing money in the course . ''Database Systems Concepts & Design'' course is the best
option to learn all about database design , o ered by Udacity .

ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

8 weeks No prior technical experience is required

Effort : 8 hours per week

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN COST

This course presents database fundamentals and Free

database design concepts.

COURSE LINK FEATURES

https://cutt.ly/mgvI9U3 1. Rich Learning Content

2. Taught by Industry Pros
3. Interactive Quizzes
4.Self-Paced Learning

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Practical Statistics

Learning Statistics is very important for any data analyst as data science is built on statistics and mathematics.

ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

8 weeks No experience is required

Effort : 8 hours per week

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN COST

The course will cover topics that will help you to Free
understand statistics applied to data such as
visualization, probability, regression..etc.

COURSE LINK FEATURES

https://cutt.ly/YgvI5D1 Rich Learning Content Taught by Industry Professionals

Student Support Community
Interactive Quizzes
Self-Paced Learning

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Introduction to R
Although it's preferred to learn Python to meet companies needs, R is still an important language to learn to add more
valuable skills to you resume .

ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

10 weeks Programming Fundamentals

Effort : 8 hours per week

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN COST

In this course, you will learn valuable skills required for Free: 0$
data analysis using R such as data cleaning, Standard : $156 per year.
manpulation, and visualization . In addition, you will Premium : $ 399 per year.
learn how to use the following libraries : ggplot2,
tidyverse, dplyr, and readr.. For More details check : https://cutt.ly/LgeMu2y

COURSE LINK FEATURES

For More details check : https://cutt.ly/7gvOf8b 1. Video Lessons combined with real-time practices.
2. Real Projects to work on ( I usually spend 1-2 hours only
COURSES TO BE TAKEN to complete a project ).
3. Online practices and assessments to sharpen your
Under skill section study :
skills.
4. Various articles related to Data Science. 5. Data
R Programming
Science Podcast.
Importing & Cleaning Data with R
Data Manipulation with R

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Data Wrangling
Data wrangling means going through the phases of data analysis , which are data gathering, data assessing data
cleaning, and data exploratory.

ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

10 weeks Programming Fundamentals of Python

Effort : 8 hours per week

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN COST

You’ll learn how to import, clean, manipulate, and Free: 0$

visualize data. Standard : $156 per year.
Premium : $ 399 per year.

For More details check : https://cutt.ly/LgeMu2y

COURSE LINK FEATURES

For More details check : https://cutt.ly/7gvOf8b 1. Video Lessons combined with real-time practices.
2. Real Projects to work on ( I usually spend 1-2 hours
COURSES TO BE TAKEN only to complete a project ).
3. Online practices and assessments to sharpen your
Introduction to Data Visualization with Matplotlib skills.
Introduction to Data Visualization with Seaborn
Introduction to Importing Data in Pyhton 4. Various articles related to Data Science. 5. Data
Intermediate to Importing Data in Python Science Podcast.
Cleaning Data in Python
Exploratory Data Analysis in Python

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Data Story Telling : Power BI

Learning how to make great and beautiful diagrams through Power BI is an essential skill for any data analyst. Enjoy this
top rated course ! Microsoft Power BI - A Complete Introduction [2020 EDITION].

ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

3 weeks Basic understanding of data analysis is a plus but not

Effort : 8 hours per week required

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN COST

You'll learn how to best use Power BI for data 175 $

visualization purposes .

COURSE LINK FEATURES

For More details check : https://cutt.ly/egvOkES 1. 23.5 hours on-demand video

2. 26 articles
3. 127 downloadable resources
4. Full lifetime access Access on mobile and TV
5. Assignments
6. Certi cate of completion

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Data Story Telling : Power BI

ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

1 week Basic understanding of data analysis

Effort : 4.5 hours per week

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN COST

You'll learn how to best use Power BI for data 150 $

visualization purposes .
1. Connect Microsoft Power BI to data sources
2. Create Barcharts
3. Create Treemaps
4. Create Donut Charts
5. Create Waterfall Diagrams
6. Create Piecharts

COURSE LINK FEATURES

For More details check : https://cutt.ly/VgvOxul 1. 4.5 hours on-demand video

2. 4articles
3 Full lifetime access Access on mobile and TV
4. Certi cate of completion

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Data Analysis in EXCEL

ESTIMATED TIME PREREQUISITES

1 week Basic understanding of data analysis

Effort : 3 hours per week

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN COST

You'll learn how to use excel for data analysis purposes FREE Add a Veri ed Certi cate for $90 USD

COURSE LINK FEATURES

For More details check : https://cutt.ly/6gvOnqH 1. Shareable Certi cate

2. Flexible deadlines

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Suggested Books in Data Analysis

The Art of Data Science Data Science from Scratch

https://cutt.ly/ngvO Q PX https://cutt.ly/OgvOWNt

Head First Data Analysis: A learner's guide to big numbers, HBR Guide to Data Analytics Basics for Managers (HBR Guide
statistics, and good decisions Series)

https://cutt.ly/ngvORnC https://cutt.ly/IgvOIqg

Conclusion
This is the rst version of " How to be a Data Analyst ?". There will be monthly updates on this booklet. My ambition is to
turn this simple booklet to a whole book in the near future.

References
https://cutt.ly/hghUGLB
https://cutt.ly/TghUCFS

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 How to be a Data Analyst

Thank You
I would like to thank you all for reading my rst booklet in Data Analysis. This is my rst attempt to draw a clear path
for anyone interested to enter the data science eld and be a data analyst. Thank you again , and wait for the second
version of this booklet !

Contact me on :

LinkedIn Pro le
https://www.linkedin.com/in/reemalashhab/

Email Address
[email protected]

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