Data analysts research and use data to solve problems, optimize profit, minimize turnover, or streamline logistics, and to help companies make better business decisions. They assess a company’s complex information including sales numbers, market research, or behavior, with the goal of reaching simpler, smarter conclusions, and use their technical expertise to stress test the data for quality and accuracy.
Data analysts collect, process, and perform statistical analysis of data and translate the numbers into a layman's terms. By identifying trends and making predictions about the future, they help companies make sense of how they work. Data analysts regulate, normalize, and calibrate data to extract that can be used alone or with other numbers and use charts, graphs, tables, and graphics to explain what the data mean across specific amounts of time or various departments. Data analysts need a bachelor's degree in mathematics, finance, statistics, economics, or computer science.