The term data analysis is related to the conversion of data and is aimed at deriving useful information and helps in arriving at proper conclusions. The word data itself means propositions reflecting the original content. Data analysis is only concerned with the verification or disapproval of an existing theory or it simply attempts at deriving those parameters that are necessary to conform a theoretical model to reality (experimentally). There are some procedures, which are followed to arrive at the required conclusion depending on the type of data and the question asked.
The books that deal with these procedures as well as the conclusions arrived at are known as data analysis books.
Data Analysis in Different Fields:
Data analysis has acquired different names in different fields especially in science and technological, where everything is based on experiment and observations related to it, for example-
- The data in nuclear and particle physics is usually derived from the experimental apparatus through the data acquisition system.
- Data Analysis has assumed a special status in Information Technology audits.
- The progress of a business is also dependent on proper data analysis.
- In social sciences we have qualitative data analysis which is the analysis based on non-numerical data like words, observations, images and other related things.
There are many others, which can make the list go on and on.
Books on Data Analysis:
There are some useful and handy books available in the market for those who would like to gather more knowledge on data analysis either giving a general idea or are related to any specific field of study. The books that are popular among the students as well as others willing to carry on their research work are written by eminent research scholars- Data Analysis: a Bayesian Tutorial (OUP publication); Data Analysis: a Statistical Primer for Psychology Students, Data Analysis: Statistical and Computational Methods for Scientists and Engineers, Biological Data Analysis: A Practical Approach, Data Analysis for Chemists, Geomatic Methods for the analysis of Data in Earth Sciences, Data Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences using SPSS and the list will never end.
Almost all the publishing house has brought out books on data analysis, as it is a comprehensive way of getting to know certain facts.
