What is data analysis?

Data analysis refers to the process of applying logical and statistical techniques to evaluate, condense and describe raw data with the sole intent of extracting useful information. There are several different forms of raw data, including observations, survey responses and measurements.

Some forms of data analysis include textual write-ups, graphs and charts. Data analysis methods are usually designed to distill and refine raw data so that readers can easily derive information from it. Summarizing the raw data is of crucial importance to supporting any arguments based on the data. The raw data is sometimes included as an appendix in case readers want to go through the specifics on their own.