Data Analyst Vs. Data Scientist: What’s The Difference?

As stated in the job titles, data analysts and data scientists work with data. Data is becoming a more and more important commodity in the business world, and demand for those who are experts in its categorization and interpretation is in high demand.

What isn’t immediately apparent, however, is what exactly the difference between a data analyst and a data scientist is. Obviously, they both work with data, but what do they do with it?

The answer has to do with their fields of expertise: data analysis and data science. An analysis is what it sounds like. Data analysts take existing data and make interpretations from it – analysis. Data scientists take the data and generate new questions from it, then use the data and databases to try to answer those questions.

Key Takeaways:

What is a Data Analyst?

Data analysts answer questions using data. Various managers in the company have different questions they want answers to and different metrics they want to see if they’re hitting, and it’s a data analyst’s job to scour the data and find the truth.

Because of this, data analysts are excellent with statistics, numbers, and managing data. They are expected to support their answers with the data, so a large part of their job is making graphs, charts, and other visual aids to help explain their answers.

Beyond just answering the questions posed to them, data analysts are expected to come up with solutions and recommendations. For instance, if they’re tasked with finding out the business is meeting its profit goals, they’re supposed to find out not only if that’s true but how to fix it if they aren’t – or improve it, even if they are.

Due to the fact that their job is heavily mathematically and observation-based, data analysts are expected to back up all of their answers and recommendations with data. That means that they need a strong understanding of not only data but the industry that they’re working in as a whole.

They also need good communication skills to get their point across and make the data easy to understand.

What Is a Data Scientist?

Data scientists do many of the same things that data analysts do; however, the job is much broader in general. As stated above, data scientists ask new questions. They will also try to find the answer to these questions by devising experiments or new ways to interpret or categorize data.

Due to the fact that data scientists will reinterpret and categorize data in databases, they’re required to know programming languages and possibly some computer science. Some data scientists are responsible for developing algorithms, which are programs that automatically gather and interpret data.

Data scientists need to have a coterie of skills in order to be successful. Knowledge of programming skills, as mentioned previously, along with strong mathematical and statistical knowledge and skills. Also, like a data analyst, a data scientist is expected to be an expert in the field that they’re working in.

Like data analysts, data scientists will report their findings. This requires them to be good at presenting, as well as communicating and be able to back up their assertions with hard data.

Tips for Becoming a Data Analyst

If you want to work as a data analyst, here are some things to consider:

• The vast majority of data analysts have a bachelor’s degree, and many of them majored in business or computer science. A degree like data analysis or mathematics is also an excellent choice.

• While much of what data analysts do will be working on a computer alone, they are also expected to present their findings and suggestions. This means that working on improving your presentation skills is likely to pay off.

• While knowing a programming language isn’t essential, it’s recommended and will help you work with databases and other programs. It also helps you to understand how computers function, which will help when working with data sets.

Tips for Becoming a Data Scientist

If you’re thinking about becoming a data scientist, here are a few things to consider.

• Much of data scientists’ work is more abstract, working with data in a scientific manner.

• There’s a lot of freedom in terms of problem-solving in this job, which means you’ll do a lot of work without much supervision.

• The majority of data scientists have at least a bachelor’s degree, and many have a master’s or even a doctoral degree.

• It’s not uncommon for data scientists to start off working as data analysts to gain experience.

Data Analyst vs. Data Scientist FAQ

1. What skills are used by data scientists vs. data analysts?

   Data scientists and data analysts use many of the same skills. However, data scientists are required to know programming languages, while with data analysts, it’s just recommended.

   Data scientists are also expected to do more than just interpret data – they’re expected to come up with different ways of looking at it and different solutions to those observations.

2. Is a data analyst a good data scientist career start?

   Yes, many data scientists will start out as data analysts. It grants you both experience and a chance to work with data in the real world.

   Interpreting data and coming up with solutions are a data analyst’s main responsibilities, and having a basis in that will help with the more complex analyses and alterations that data scientists do.

3. What qualifications are required to become a data scientist?

   The most important qualification to become a data scientist is a bachelor’s degree – preferably in data science, statistics, mathematics, or computer science. It’s essentially impossible to become a data scientist without higher education. Many data scientists have more than just a bachelor’s – almost 35% have a master’s, and some even have a doctorate.

   Many data scientists also have experience in the field, either as a data analyst or some other job working with data – such as a research assistant.

4. Do data analysts code?

   It’s not a requirement for data analysts to be able to code, but it’s highly recommended to have knowledge of programming languages. It can be helpful in altering or improving databases and sets, and it’s essential if you wish to go on to be a data scientist.

5. Is it better to study data analytics or data science?

   It is better to study data analytics if you’re more interested in working with numbers than programming, and data science if you’d like to program and earn more money.

   Data science requires being able to program, and data scientists make more money than data analysts. However, if you like working with numbers and aren’t as interested in programming, then data analytics is still an excellent and highly in-demand choice.

Author

Di Doherty

Di has been a writer for more than half her life. Most of her writing so far has been fiction, and she’s gotten short stories published in online magazines Kzine and Silver Blade, as well as a flash fiction piece in the Bookends review. Di graduated from Mary Baldwin College (now University) with a degree in Psychology and Sociology.