Often used interchangeably, data analyst and data scientist are two different terms and career streams with unique importance. Of course, both deal with data – a priceless asset for every business in the modern context. However, they contribute in different ways to help businesses harness the power of data and drive meaningful and actionable insights from it.
As a fresh technology graduate or an experienced professional looking for a data analyst course in Pune or data science classes in Pune, this blog is for you. It highlights some differences between data analysts and data scientists to strengthen the basic concepts and make an informed career choice.
Who is a Data Analyst?
A data analyst gathers, processes, and interprets data to help companies make informed decisions. Their role usually involves,
- Gathering data from different sources like databases, spreadsheets, etc.
- Cleaning the data to ensure accuracy and removing errors or inconsistencies.
- Analyzing data with Python, R, Excel, SQL, or other specialized software.
- Presenting findings through graphs, charts, and dashboards through Power BI, Tableau, etc., to make it clear, straightforward, and understandable.
- Preparing reports and presentations summarizing the insights and actionable recommendations based on the analysis.
Data analysts closely work with other teams and departments, including marketing, finance, HR, operations, etc., as each generates data and requires accurate analysis.
Example: Retail is a highly data-driven sector that evolves continuously and adapts to changing consumer needs and demands. Data analysts help retailers analyze data concerning sales, customer behavior, preferences, inventory statistics, market trends, etc. Their role extends to analyzing data to track sales performance, make revenue forecasts, segment customers, create personalized marketing strategies, provide data to optimize inventory levels, perform competitive pricing analysis, etc.
Who is a Data Scientist?
A data scientist uses various scientific methods, algorithms, processes, and systems to extract insights from structured and unstructured data. Their expertise includes programming, mathematics, statistics, and domain knowledge to analyze massive datasets, identify patterns, and develop complex problem-solving models. Data analysts handle various responsibilities while performing their core jobs. These include,
- Gathering relevant data from multiple and diverse sources.
- Preparing the data by cleaning, organizing, and formatting it for analysis.
- Analyzing the data initially to understand its structure and explore hidden trends and patterns.
- Using statistical techniques and ML algorithms to build predictive models or data-driven insights for the business.
- Evaluating the model’s accuracy and performance and refining them.
- Creating visual representations of the data through graphs and dashboards
- Assisting companies in making informed decisions concerning product launches, strategies, marketing, etc., based on data-driven insights.
Example: In the healthcare sector, data scientists leverage data to enhance patient outcomes, streamline operations, and improve the decision-making process. Their role covers various critical responsibilities like integrating, cleaning, and structuring datasets, ensuring safe data handling, building models to predict disease progression, predicting patient inflows, and much more.
Data Analyst vs Data Scientist – Key Differences
While you now have a basic understanding of what data analysts and data scientists do, let’s look at some key factors distinguishing them.
|
Aspect |
Data Analyst |
Data Scientist |
| Primary Responsibility | Analyze data and provide insights to enable informed decision-making | Solve complex problems with various advanced statistical and computational methods |
| Routine Tasks | Cleaning and organizing data, creating various reports, building dashboards and doing descriptive analytics | Developing algorithms, creating predictive models, performing A/B testing and conducting exploratory data analysis |
| Tools Used | Excel, Power BI, Google Analytics and SQL | Hadoop, Python, R, Spark, SQL, Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services and TensorFlow |
| Programming Skills Needed | Limited coding proficiency | Extensive coding expertise with proficiency in R, Scala and Python |
| Educational Background | Bachelor’s degree in business, statistics, or a related stream
Data analytics courses in Pune or other places |
Master’s or Ph.D. in data science, computer science, or other similar streams
Should have attended data science classes in Pune or anywhere else |
| Skills Required | – Data Cleaning and Preparation
– Data Visualization – Statistical Analysis – Solid Analytical Capabilities – SQL – Excel – Domain Knowledge – Problem-Solving – Communication – Attention to Detail – Continuous Learning |
– Machine Learning
– Data Visualization – Data Cleaning and Preprocessing – Deep Learning – Experiment Designing – A/B Testing – Time Series Analysis – Communication – Presentation – Natural Language Processing (NLP) |
With data, the importance of data scientists and analysts will also increase. Speaking of the growth of data analytics, for example, it will surpass the 100-billion-dollar mark in the next 3-4 years. Even when it comes to data science, its platform market size fared between USD 95 billion – USD 98 billion last year. The growth prospects are as promising as they can be! Besides, since every sector generates data and wants to drive optimal value from it, data analysts and data scientists can seek employment in almost any sector. Of course, domain knowledge and understanding will play a crucial part while looking for opportunities.
So now the question is from where will you learn the skills you need to become a data analyst or data scientist. The answer is Ethan’s Tech. We are one of Pune’s leading technology training institutes with a flair for and purpose of empowering the industry with comprehensively trained talent. Explore our course curriculum and learning methodologies if you’ve been looking for the terms data analytics or data science course near me. We will be happy to shape your career.
