5.1 What is the story within the data?

“I find that most people don’t know what a story is until they sit down to write one.” - Flannery O’Connor

This is the point at which you make sense of the data, and figure out how you can use it to tell your story; in essence, what is the story within the data?

You can use numerous tools for analysis, including Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, and Tableau Public.

We can begin our process of analysis by:

• Conducting a data interview.

• Processing the data using the formulae & functions in order to answer the interview questions, such as filters, pivot tables, etc.

• Extracting the data insights we have identified.

Before we launch into our data lesson, let’s consider this:

The South African Government has budgeted R208 billion for Economic Development in the current fiscal year (2021/22 Consolidated Budget Summary).

How can we begin to answer the question:

But, Is that a lot?

The South African Government has budgeted R208 billion for Economic Development in the current fiscal year

We can begin our process of uncovering whether it is a lot by looking at the data from different angles:

1. What are we comparing it to?

2. What is the amount as a % of the overall budget for the country?

3. How many people is this budget targeting? And how does that compare to other municipalities?

4. How does it compare to the national budget in previous years?

5. What is included in this amount? i.e. buildings, grants, offices, salaries?

In order to look at our data from many angles, we need to be able to process it.

This is the point at which you make sense of the data, and figure out how you can use it to tell your story; in essence, what is the story within the data?

You can use numerous tools for analysis, including Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, and Tableau Public.

Data stories are often linked to the types of technical processes you are able to perform on the data in order to extract the relevant data insights. They speak to stories about comparison, trends, scale, transformation, proportion, range, distribution, and more.

We can begin our process of analysis by:

• Conducting a data interview.

• Processing the data using the formulae & functions in order to answer the interview questions, such as filters, pivot tables, etc.

• Extracting the data insights we have identified.