CPD - Best Data Analysis Courses

In today’s digital world, having the knowledge and skills to decipher and understand information is vital across all industries. Every organisation needs to have a data analysis plan in place to optimise their business output and performance. In this CPD article, we will explain what data analysis is, the importance of data analysis and how you can find a data analysis course, making sure you become an essential part of your workplace workflow.

What is Data Analysis?

Data analysis can be defined as the means to prepare, process and analyse data in order to make informed business decisions. This can be as simple as organising your customers into who lives inside or outside the United Kingdom, or even breakdown whether there are differences in urban or rural areas.

Data Analysis uses several skillsets such as computer programming, statistics and mathematics to give accurate analysis. New technologies and tools are being developed to help with this as this will lead to a lot of information to be deciphered. But, unless you begin with asking the right questions and know what you want to achieve with your outcomes, you will end up with a lot of data that mean nothing on its own.

Why is Data Analysis important?

Every time we go online, we leave a digital trail. For a lot of organisations this will relate to their customers, new and returning as well as potential customers. When we purchase from a retailer, they now have information about us. Knowing how each customer reacts to a product can help companies with marketing and planning future products.

Data analysis uses raw data so businesses can come to conclusions about that data. It can help businesses realign their own goals and plans in order to make better business decisions. There’s no point in providing a product if your customers are not interested in that product. Using the collected data, the goal of a business will be to use that information to improve the business performance.

What does a Data Analyst do?

Although different organisations will have different work processes, the work of a data analyst can be broken down into some key areas and skills:

• Determining what the data requirements are and how the data is grouped together. This could be gender, demographic, age etc.
• Collecting the data: This can be done though websites and online resources, environment resources.
• Organising the data so it can be analysed. This can be done through software or a spreadsheet.
• Cleaning the data. This removes any duplicates, incomplete data or any errors which may skew the results.

• Data Analysis. This takes a question or a business need and analyses the data to develop a relevant answer. 
• Statistical Knowledge: This is an important skill to have as it will help you ensure that your analysis is valid.
• Creating Data Visualisations. Graphs, pie charts and other visually compelling images will help a Data Analyst explain their findings. Turning data into a visual can help uncover things which could be hidden on a spreadsheet.
• Creating Dashboards and reports: Dashboards and reports will empower others within your organisation to make better decisions, even if they are not technically minded they can access these.
• Writing and Communication: The ability to communicate is essential, through speech, writing and explaining. All of your work and your skills are meaningless if you cannot explain what everything means. Learn how to improve your communication skills.
• Domain Knowledge: As data analysis is used across all industries, knowledge of your sector and organisation is important if you are to make the most of your skills. This will help when it comes to breaking down questions into types of data analysis.

Types of Data Analysis

All industries and organisations are different, but there are four basic types of data analysis that we have outlined below. 

Descriptive: Describes what has happened in a certain time period. Have sales gone up, are there more views on a certain product page this month?

Diagnostic: This looks at why certain things happened at a certain time. For example, did the last marketing campaign affect sales compared with this time last year?

Predictive: Predictive, this looks what is likely to happen in the near future. This can be affected by seasonal or special occasions. What happened to sales when we last had a significant event?

Prescriptive: Similar to a medical prescription, this suggests a course of action to take.

Why take a Data Analyst CPD course?

If you are thinking of changing careers or upskilling, taking a Data Analyst CPD course is a fantastic option. The world of data analysis and the digital world in general moves at a great pace. While self-study is possible for these, a course will give you a disciplined learning structure and you will also have access to industry experts to ask any questions you may have.  

Here are some reasons why a career as a Data Analysis could be for you

Increasing Job Market: Every organisation wants to make better decisions. Bad decisions cost money. As more companies understand the need for data driven decision making, the more there will be a need for employees to understand and communicate that data.

Industry Options: As a data analyst, you have the opportunity to work across all sectors. If you are upskilling or changing careers, you will have the ability to use previous knowledge gained in that sector in your data analyst work.

Updating your Skill Set: In the digital realm, things move and change quickly. Working as a data analyst will enable to you to constantly learn and advance your career.

Competitive Salary: Companies want to get the best person for each role within their organisation, especially if they are to make major business decisions determined by your analysis. They are willing to competitively compensate for that.

Work for anyone, from anywhere: All new businesses now think about data analysis from the outset. This means the possibility of working with start-ups as well as more established organisations. As the work of a Data Analyst can be done on computer, this gives you the option of working anywhere in the world.

What are the best Data Analyst CPD courses?

As there are several fundamental areas and skillsets within Data Analysis, you may find that a general CPD course on Data Analysis suits your needs before deep diving into learning about a more niche, specialist skill. For example, skills and knowledge in coding languages like Python, SQL, R and technologies like Power BI can have a steep learning curve. 

Attending a structured CPD course can keep help you with self-management and keep you in line with your goals. Choose one that fits in with your availability and timescales. Make sure that the course has been certified as this will provide an assurance that learning has been reviewed and approved to comply with industry standards. 

Are there CPD courses to learn Data Analysis?

If you wish to continue your learning in the area of data analysis, there is an ever-growing amount of relevant CPD courses, training and learning options available online. A key selection of these can be found within our CPD Courses Catalogue. There are thousands of training courses and events hosted on behalf of our members which can benefit your career.

All the certified training has been reviewed and recognised as meeting the required industry standards and benchmarks. To find out more about a particular CPD Data Analysis course, you can complete an enquiry form that will be sent directly to the relevant CPD provider.

How to become a CPD accredited training provider

We hope this article was helpful. Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service has over 27 years’ experience providing CPD accreditation. With members in over 100 countries, our CPD providers benefit from the ability to promote themselves as part of an international community where quality is both recognised and assured.

If you are interested in offering training courses, seminars, workshops, eLearning, or educational events suitable for Continuing Professional Development, please visit the Become a CPD Provider page or contact our team to discuss in more detail. Alternatively, if you are looking for a free online CPD record tool to help manage, track and log your ongoing learning, as well as store your professional training records and attendance certificates in one simple place, go to the myCPD Portal page.