How to Read Data Before You Analyze It

7 min read | Updated for workplace learners

Before analyzing data, understand what each field means, how it was collected, and what might be missing. Many bad conclusions come from clean-looking data with unclear definitions.

Check row counts, date ranges, duplicate records, outliers, and blank values. Then write a short data note explaining what the dataset can and cannot answer.

This step protects the analysis from false precision.

Editorial reference: LinkedIn Learning public course page.