What is Data Description in Univariate Analysis using Excel

Given a data set, the first step is to understand what it contains. Information about a data set can be gained simply by looking at its metadata. Metadata, in simple terms, is the data that describes each variable in detail. Information such as the size of the data set, how and when the data set was created, what the rows and variables represent, etc. are captured in the metadata.  

Let us learn more about data description in the following video.

In this lecture, you learnt about metadata description.

Types of Variables

You learnt the difference between ordered and unordered categorical variables.

• Ordered ones have some kind of ordering in them. Some examples are:
  • Salary = High-Medium-low
  • Month = Jan-Feb-Mar
• Unordered ones do not have the notion of high-low, more-less, etc. Example:
  • Type of loan taken by a person = home, personal, auto, etc.
  • Organisational role of a person = Sales, marketing, HR, etc.

Apart from the two types of categorical variables, the other most common type is quantitative variables. These are simply numeric variables, which can be added up, multiplied, divided, etc. For example, salary, number of bank accounts, runs scored by a batsman, the mileage of a car, etc.

So far, we have discussed the following types of variables:

1. Categorical variables
   • Unordered 
   • Ordered
2. Quantitative / numeric variables

After getting a basic understanding of the variables in the data set, the next step is to gain insights from the data. In the next few lectures, you will learn how to perform univariate analysis on the following types of variables:

• Categorical variables
  • Unordered categorical
  • Ordered categorical
• Quantitative variables