The business world is always highly competitive. Data is essential to any business- be it small or big. Any company that neglects proper data analysis is already a loss. Such a mistake can cost a company its image as well as finance. Once data is collected, what is the next step? The answer is descriptive statistics and graphical representation of data.
What is a descriptive statistical analysis?
Descriptive statistical analysis (analisis statistik deskriptif, which is the term in Indonesian) as the name suggests, describes data in the form of reports, summaries, and graphs. It assists the companies to scrutinize the data easily. Please note that this type of analysis uses data from the past. It does not draw any conclusions either. The inferential analysis allows conclusions, not descriptive analysis. The goal of this type of interpretation is to explain the data in an easily understood, attractive way.
Types Of Descriptive Statistics
Before getting to the importance of data analysis, one should know the types of descriptive statistics used for the purpose.
- The first type is the central tendency (mean, median, and mode). Mean means the average of your data. Median is the value that is in the middle of your dataset. The amount which occurs most often is the mode.
- The second type, frequency, is often used in summarizing survey responses. For example, 67% of people are of a particular opinion.
- The third type consists of quartile and percentile ranks. These represent percentage positions of data.
- Variation is the fourth type, used to determine limits (maximum and minimum values).
P.S. – You don’t need to solve the data by hand. Industries use various statistical software for the purpose, not hand-solve them all.
Data Visualization- A Vital Part Of Data Analysis
Have you ever seen a movie scene, where people are in a meeting, discussing an important-looking graph of data? That graph is a product of data visualization. Through graphical depiction, a company can easily understand the data. They may find how to improve the numbers. They can develop a plan to keep their enterprise 10-steps-ahead of their competitors. There are various software’s available, as mentioned earlier, that aid us to interpret the data in an interesting, yet understandable way. Histography, box plots, line graphs, and pie charts are extremely popular here.
The Importance Of Descriptive Statistical Analysis
It is, no doubt, an aspect part of business strategies. It displays data in an appealing style. Imagine studying a dull-looking table or spreadsheet full of numbers. It is tedious to look at, forget understanding it. Now imagine a graph with the same data. It looks more attractive. This type of analysis does miracles in business meetings.
