# Data Analysis & Data Science 📊

> Finding hidden stories inside numbers — helping schools, hospitals, and businesses
> make better decisions using data.

[← Back to all career paths](README.md)

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## What is it?

Every app, shop, and hospital collects **data** — numbers and information about what people do.
On its own, data is just a pile of numbers. **Data analysts and data scientists turn that pile
into clear answers and stories.**

- **Data Analyst** — answers questions like *"Which subjects do students struggle with most?"* using charts and reports.
- **Data Scientist** — goes further, using maths and machine learning to *predict* what will happen next.

> 📈 Think of yourself as a detective. The data is the clues; your job is to solve the mystery.

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## What would I actually do?

- Collect data and **clean it** (fix errors, remove duplicates)
- Explore it to spot patterns and trends
- Build **charts and dashboards** that anyone can understand
- Answer questions for a team ("Why did sales drop in June?")
- Present your findings as a clear story with recommendations

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## Is this me? ✅

You might love data work if you:

- Enjoy **finding patterns** and asking "why?"
- Like organising messy things into something neat
- Are curious about the world and love a good chart
- Enjoy explaining things clearly to others

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## Skills to build (in order)

1. **Spreadsheets** — Excel or **Google Sheets** (the perfect starting point!)
2. **Statistics basics** — averages, percentages, what's "normal"
3. **Data storytelling** — turning numbers into charts and clear conclusions
4. **Python** — with **pandas** for handling bigger data
5. **SQL** — the language for asking databases questions
6. **A dashboard tool** — like **Power BI**, **Tableau**, or **Google Looker Studio**

> ✨ You can go a *long* way with just spreadsheets and curiosity before writing any code.

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## Free resources

- **[Google Data Analytics (Coursera)](https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/google-data-analytics)** — audit for free, beginner-friendly
- **[Kaggle Learn](https://www.kaggle.com/learn)** — free short courses on Python, pandas, SQL, and data viz
- **[freeCodeCamp Data Analysis](https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/data-analysis-with-python/)**
- **[Khan Academy Statistics](https://www.khanacademy.org/math/statistics-probability)** — free, clear maths lessons
- **[Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/)** — open datasets and beautiful charts to learn from
- **[Google Sheets tutorials on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=google+sheets+beginner)**

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## Starter projects 🚀

All of these can start in **Google Sheets** — free with any Google account.

1. **Class survey analysis** — survey your class, then chart favourite subjects and hobbies.
2. **Personal spending tracker** — log your spending for a month, find where money goes.
3. **Study-hours vs grades** — collect data from classmates, look for a pattern.
4. **Weather diary** — record daily temperatures, then graph the trend.
5. **Explore an open dataset** — pick one from Kaggle and answer 3 questions about it.

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## Your first steps (do these this week)

- [ ] Make a copy of a Google Sheet and create your first **bar chart**
- [ ] Run a mini survey of 10 classmates and chart the results
- [ ] Learn `SUM`, `AVERAGE`, and `COUNT` in Sheets
- [ ] Browse [Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/) and find a chart that surprises you
- [ ] Start the first lesson of a Kaggle Learn course
- [ ] Write one sentence describing a *story* your data told you

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## Roles this can grow into

Data Analyst • Data Scientist • Business Intelligence Analyst • Data Engineer •
Research Analyst • Machine Learning Engineer

> 💡 Data skills are useful in **every** field — health, farming, government, sports, and business.
> Learning data means you can help solve problems in your own community with evidence, not guesses.