Data Analyst and Power BI Questions

Link1:
https://www.interviewbit.com/data-analyst-interview-questions/

Q1) Components/Formats of Power BI available?

Power BI was introduced by Microsoft to combine the multiple data visualization

features into one. Power BI is the new term for the data-driven industry and thus
carries a lot of opportunities on its shoulders. It comes as a package of three major
components:
●​ Power BI services
●​ Power BI Desktop
●​ Power BI mobile app
With these three components, Power BI lets you create a data-driven insight into
your business. Based on various roles, you can leverage Power BI to your benefits
like creating reports, monitor progress, integrate APIs, and many more.

Q2) What are views and its types in Power BI?

The Data View provides visibility to the imported rows for each table as well as important
metadata, such as the count of rows and the distinct values for columns.

●​ Data View: Curating, exploring, and viewing data tables in the data set. Unlike,
Power Query editor, with data view, you are looking at the data after it has been fed
to the model.
●​ Model View: This view shows you all the tables along with their complex
relationships. With this, you can break these complex models into simplified
diagrams or set properties for them at once.
●​ Report View: The report view displays the tables in an interactive format to simplify
data analysis. You can create ‘n’ number of reports, provide visualizations, merge
them, or apply any such functionality.

Q3) Where is data stored in Power BI?

Azure Blob Storage: When users upload the data, it gets stored here.​
Azure SQL Database: All the metadata and system artifacts are stored here.
They are stored as either fact tables or dimensional tables.

Q4) Connectivity models in Power BI?

The three major connectivity modes in Power BI are:

Direct Query: The method allows direct connection to the Power BI model. The data doesn’t
get stored in Power BI. Interestingly, Power BI will only store the metadata of the data tables
involved and not the actual data. The supported sources of data query are:
●​ Amazon Redshift
 ●​ Azure HDInsight Spark (Beta)
●​ Azure SQL Database
●​ Azure SQL Data Warehouse
●​ IBM Netezza (Beta)
●​ Impala (version 2.x)
●​ Oracle Database (version 12 and above)
●​ SAP Business Warehouse (Beta)
●​ SAP HANA
●​ Snowflake
●​ Spark (Beta) (version 0.9 and above)
●​ SQL Server
●​ Teradata Database
Live Connection: Live connection is analogous to the direct query method as it doesn’t store
any data in Power BI either. But opposed to the direct query method, it is a direct connection
to the analysis services model. Also, the supported data sources with live connection
method are limited:
●​ SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) Tabular
●​ SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) Multi-Dimensional
●​ Power BI Service
Import Data (Scheduled Refresh): By choosing this method, you upload the data into Power
BI. Uploading data on Power BI means consuming the memory space of your Power BI
desktop. If it is on the website, it consumes the space of the Power BI cloud machine. Even
though it is the fastest method, the maximum size of the file to be uploaded cannot exceed 1
GB until and unless you have Power BI premium (then you have 50 GB at the expense).
But which model to choose when depends on your use and purpose.

Q5) Major Components of Power BI?

●​ Power Query (for data mash-up and transformation): You can use this to extract data
from various databases (like SQL Server, MySql, and many others ) and to delete a
chunk of data from various sources.
●​ Power Pivot (for tabular data modeling): It is a data modeling engine that uses a
functional language called Data Analysis Expression (DAX) to perform the
calculations. Also, creates a relationship between various tables to be viewed as
pivot tables.
●​ Power View (for viewing data visualizations): The view provides an interactive display
of various data sources to extract metadata for proper data analysis.
●​ Power BI Desktop (a companion development tool): Power Desktop is an aggregated
tool of Power Query, Power View, and Power Pivot. Create advanced queries,
models, and reports using the desktop tool.
●​ Power BI Mobile (for Android, iOS, Windows phones): It gives an interactive display
of the dashboards from the site onto these OS, effortlessly.
●​ Power Map (3D geo-spatial data visualization).
●​ Power Q&A (for natural language Q&A).
Q6) What is a dashboard?
The dashboard is like a single-page canvas on which you have various elements to create
and visualize reports created by analyzing data. It comprises only the most important data
from the reports to create a story.
The visual elements present on the dashboard are called Tiles. You can pin these tiles from
the reports to the dashboard. Clicking any element on the dashboard takes you to the report
of a particular data set.

Q7) Power BI versions?

●​ Power BI Desktop: The free interactive tool that connects multiple data sources,
transforms data, and creates visualized reports.
●​ Power BI Premium: The premium version is used for larger organizations with a
dedicated storage capacity for each user. With premium, data sets up to 50GB
storage capacity can be hosted along with 100TB storage on the cloud as a whole. It
costs $4995 per month.
●​ Power BI Pro: With the pro version, you get full access to the Power BI dashboard,
creation of reports, along with unlimited sharing and viewing of reports. You also
have a storage limit of 10GB per user.

Q8) What is DAX?

Data Analysis Expression (DAX) is a library of formulas used for calculations and data
analysis. This library comprises functions, constants, and operators to perform calculations
and give results. DAX lets you use the data sets to their full potential and provide insightful
reports.
DAX is a functional language containing conditional statements, nested functions, value
references, and much more. The formulas are either numeric (integers, decimals, etc.) or
non-numeric (string, binary). A DAX formula always starts with an equal sign.

A: Name of the project​

B: Start of the DAX formula​
C: DAX function (to add)​
D: Parentheses defining arguments​
E: Name of the table​
F: Name of the field​
G: Operator
Sure, Abhishek! Below are several DAX examples in the interview practice format you've
provided. Each one includes a brief project context, a DAX formula snippet, and how it fits
into the structure you're following. Some examples are given below:

🔹 1. Sales Growth Analysis

 ●​ A: Name of the project: Sales Growth Analysis​

●​ B: Start of the DAX formula:​

Sales Growth =​

●​ C: DAX function (to add):​

DIVIDE​

●​ D: Parentheses defining arguments:​

( [Total Sales] - [Previous Year Sales], [Previous Year Sales]
)​

●​ E: Name of the table:​

SalesData​

●​ F: Name of the field:​

SalesAmount​

●​ G: Operator:​
- (Subtraction)​

🔹 2. Profit Calculation
●​ A: Name of the project: Profit Calculation​

●​ B: Start of the DAX formula:​

Profit =​

●​ C: DAX function (to add):​

SUMX​

●​ D: Parentheses defining arguments:​

( SalesData, SalesData[Revenue] - SalesData[Cost] )​

●​ E: Name of the table:​

SalesData​

●​ F: Name of the field:​

Revenue, Cost​
 ●​ G: Operator:​
- (Subtraction)​

🔹 3. Customer Count (Distinct)

●​ A: Name of the project: Customer Segmentation​

●​ B: Start of the DAX formula:​

Customer Count =​

●​ C: DAX function (to add):​

DISTINCTCOUNT​

●​ D: Parentheses defining arguments:​

( Customers[CustomerID] )​

●​ E: Name of the table:​

Customers​

●​ F: Name of the field:​

CustomerID​

●​ G: Operator:​
Not applicable (since it's a count function)​

🔹 4. High Value Sales Filter

●​ A: Name of the project: High Value Transactions​

●​ B: Start of the DAX formula:​

HighValueSales =​

●​ C: DAX function (to add):​

CALCULATE​

●​ D: Parentheses defining arguments:​

( SUM(SalesData[SalesAmount]), SalesData[SalesAmount] > 10000
)​
 ●​ E: Name of the table:​
SalesData​

●​ F: Name of the field:​

SalesAmount​

●​ G: Operator:​
> (Greater than)​

🔹 5. YoY Sales Comparison

●​ A: Name of the project: Year-over-Year Performance​

●​ B: Start of the DAX formula:​

YoY Sales =​

●​ C: DAX function (to add):​

TOTALYTD​

●​ D: Parentheses defining arguments:​

( SUM(SalesData[SalesAmount]), 'Calendar'[Date] )​

●​ E: Name of the table:​

SalesData​

●​ F: Name of the field:​

SalesAmount​

●​ G: Operator:​
Not directly used (but implied within SUM)​

Q9) What is a power query ?

Power Query is a data connection and transformation tool in Microsoft Power BI, Excel, and
other Microsoft products. It lets you connect to various data sources, clean, transform, and
shape your data before loading it into your report or model.

Comparison between DAX and Power Query.

 Feature Power Query DAX (Data Analysis Expressions)

Stage Before data is loaded After data is loaded

Purpose Data Calculations/analytics on data

shaping/cleaning

Languag M Language DAX

e

Tool Power Query Editor Data view and report view in Power BI

Q10) What are filters in Power BI?

Filters sort data based on the condition applied to it. Filters enable us to select particular
fields and extract information in a page/visualization/report level.
Types of filters are:
●​ Page-level filters: These are applied on a particular page from various pages
available within a report.
●​ Visualization-level filters: These are applied to both data and calculation conditions
for particular visualizations.
●​ Report-level filters: These are applied to the entire report.

Q11) What are KPIs?

✅ KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

KPIs are measurable values that indicate how effectively an individual, team, or
organization is achieving key business objectives. They help track progress, identify
issues, and make data-driven decisions.

🧠 Simple Definition:
KPIs tell you if you're winning or losing.
🔍 Examples of KPIs:
Domain Example KPIs

Sales Total Revenue, Conversion Rate, Lead-to-Sale Ratio

Marketing Click-Through Rate (CTR), Cost per Lead, Social Engagement

Customer Average Resolution Time, Customer Satisfaction Score

Support (CSAT)

Finance Net Profit Margin, Operating Cash Flow, ROI

Operations On-Time Delivery Rate, Inventory Turnover

📊 KPI in Power BI:

Power BI allows you to visualize KPIs using:

●​ KPI Visual (built-in)​

●​ Card Visuals (for single values)​

●​ Gauge Charts​

●​ Conditional Formatting to show status with colors (e.g., Red = Bad, Green = Good)​

📌 Example:
If your target sales is ₹10 lakh and actual sales is ₹8.5 lakh:

●​ Power BI can show this using a KPI visual with an indicator, target, and trend.​

⚙️ KPI Formula Example in DAX:

KPI Status =
IF (
[Actual Sales] >= [Target Sales],
"On Track",
"Behind"
)

✅ Good KPI Characteristics (SMART):

 Criteria Explanation

Specific Clearly defined and focused

Measurable Quantifiable with data

Achievable Realistic and attainable

Relevant Tied to business goals

Time-bound Tracked over time (daily, monthly…)

Q12) How do you connect Power BI to SQL Server ?

✅ 1. Connecting Power BI to SQL Server:

📌 Steps:
1.​ Open Power BI Desktop.​

2.​ Go to Home > click Get Data.​

3.​ Choose SQL Server from the list.​

4.​ In the pop-up:​

○​ Server: Enter the SQL Server name (e.g., localhost or

ServerName\InstanceName)​

○​ Database: Optional (you can leave it blank to show all databases).​

5.​ Choose Data Connectivity Mode:​

○​ Import: Loads the data into Power BI.​

○​ DirectQuery: Queries live data from SQL Server.​

6.​ Click OK.​

7.​ Choose your Authentication method:​

○​ Windows​
 ○​ Database​

○​ Microsoft Account​

8.​ Once connected, select tables or run a custom SQL query.​

9.​ Click Load to bring the data into Power BI.​

✅ 2. Connecting to Other Databases:

Database Type How to Connect

MySQL Install MySQL Connector → Get Data → MySQL

database

PostgreSQL Install Npgsql connector → Get Data → PostgreSQL

database

Oracle Install Oracle client → Get Data → Oracle database

Azure SQL Get Data → Azure → Azure SQL Database

Access Get Data → Access database → Select .accdb or .mdb

file

ODBC Data Sources Get Data → ODBC → Use any database with an ODBC
driver