What Is Data Analytics?

Four Types of Data Analytics

Analyzing data is all about gathering information & finding patterns in virtually any aspect of operations. Data analytics helps provide us with the framework to analyze data and translate it into actionable insights. This helps businesses develop a better understanding of their operations, navigate challenge, and make better decisions in the future.

The potential benefits of data analysis are virtually never-ending, according to Fortune.¹

Data analytics falls into these four categories depending on the question one seeks to answer:

Descriptive Analytics

Helps determine what happened in the past through several tools and techniques, such as data mining and aggregation. This type of data analytics can also help professionals describe past events.
Diagnostic Analytics

Helps professionals determine why an event happened. This type of analytics is partially based on probability and draws on myriad analysis techniques.
Predictive Analytics

Helps predict what could happen within specific sets of conditions. This type of analytics also draws on probability and incorporates various analysis techniques, such as predictive modeling.
Prescriptive Analytics

Helps businesses and organizations determine the best course of action or their next steps in any given circumstance. Like other types of analytics, prescriptive analytics can include many analysis techniques, such as simulation analysis, and can draw on artificial intelligence, too.

Diving Deep Into Data: Experiential Learning Courses

At Michigan State University, you’ll find a myriad of undergraduate and graduate courses designed to teach the data leaders of the modern world.

Our M.S. in Business Data Science and Analytics program offers courses that explore applied statistics, data mining, contemporary tools, data collection, analysis and interpretation techniques

In addition to the courses listed below, you’ll also study:

Business strategy
Project management
Marketing technologies
Communications

all of which were designed with input from our Advisory Board and recruiting partners.

Our programs are specially designed to round out your skill set and expand your career trajectory, no matter your aspirations. Each course is taught by leading MSU faculty in business, computer science and statistics from our Broad College of Business, College of Engineering, and College of Natural Science.

Some of the graduate-level courses for data analytics you may take at MSU include:

Business Analytics Problem Solving (Statistics)

Learn to apply statistical concepts including random variables, analysis of variance and others while developing an understanding of when to each should be applied.
Computational Techniques for Large-Scale Data Analysis
Examine emerging issues in big data, such as:
- Collection and querying
- Mining
- Association analytics
- and more.
Data Management and Visualization
Learn about the role of analytics in:
- shaping competitive strategy
- improving operational design
- implementing business processes
Data Mining

Examine techniques and algorithms for knowledge discovery in databases, from data pre-processing and transformation to model validation and post-processing.
Machine Learning and Optimization
Delve into these concepts and their applications:
- Supervised learning (such as penalized regression, classification and survival analysis)
- Deep neural networks for classification
- Advanced topics in machine learning (such as generative models and meta learning)
- and more.
Web Analytics

Gain a better understanding of the collection and analysis of information from the web, including predicting future behavior, mobile marketing and analytics, and more.

Formulate Your Future With a Data Analytics Degree

For many organizations, Fortune reports, people who have the skills to analyze raw data and formulate conclusions to solve problems are not just valuable; they are indispensable.

Every facet of the curriculum throughout this program considers how to appropriately leverage theoretical constructs and statistical tools. Our mission is to help graduates create the most value for the organizations they join.

As you earn your business data analytics degree at MSU, you will have the space to refine your craft with the guidance of your peers and instructors. Our program will help build your confidence to deliver value at every point in your career.

“Large-scale, high-resolution data sets are being created in ways never before imagined. Enormous challenges and opportunities are available for those who analyze, manage and extract useful information from the data sets.”

– Matt Mutka, Ph.D., Chair, MSU Computer Science and Engineering

Earn Your Master’s at MSU

Take the next step now toward your future with a Master’s in Business Data Science and Analytics.

This experiential program will provide you with the analytics abilities to interrogate, visualize and translate a variety of data into actionable business insights.

Each semester, this degree program offers graduate students the opportunity to solve real business needs with real-world stakeholders. In the fall, you and a team of your peers will take the driver’s seats and manage your own project with help from your faculty adviser. Then, you will complete a project during spring term with your instructor. Paired with a summer internship, you will hit the ground running after graduation.

By graduation, not only will you have mastered the tools needed to manage analytics workstreams, you will also understand how to move through the processes, from requests to final presentations.