Part 1
Introduction to Power Bi.
Power BI is a data analysis and visualization tool by Microsoft that helps turn raw data into charts, graphs, and reports.
In this beginner friendly guide,I will take you through all the essentials to get you started on your data journey. We will cover how to import data, build your first charts and even how to share with others.
However , we will first have to download and install power Bi on our laptops/desktops.
1.Importing Data
On the home screen, choose blank report. this is the first step to data importation.
This should be your screen after blank report,
This is the report view, at the center of it are some of the most common data sources.
Power bi lets you get data from so many data sources, excell, dataflows, dataverse, and even sql servers,cloud services etc.
By clicking the top first icon, you can see the various data sources;
Data sources in power bi
However for this guide we will use data from an excell workbook. So on the menu, click of excel workbook and choose the data from your files.
*Nb * A common first time problem-sometimes data is saved as with a .csv extension thus the file might not be visible with the excell files, on your files list click all files to be able to view the csv file.
2.Load and Transform data
Once you have your data, the first step is to load the data to powe bi.Mostly this data is messy and not standardized to the right data types for analysis, has missing values or duplicates.
Below you will see; load and transform data icons.
Load data- if you load data, powe bi will bring in the data exactly as it appears in the excell file, straight import. No data cleaning will have been made
Transform data- we click on transform, you will open what we call the power query. This is an editor for data,its used for data cleaning even before loading it.
NB You can always prepare and transform data after loading, use the transform data icon to get to power query mode.
3.Data cleaning in power bi
Data cleaning in Power bi is done using the power query, and is the process of preparing data so it is accurate, complete, and ready for analysis. It involves fixing errors, removing duplicate or unwanted data, and organizing information into a clear format.
some common data cleaning actions:
- remove extra columns
- clear or correct blanks
- Check fro duplicates
- _ Fix wrong values_
- Standardize data types in columns
- column split
However, the action is not really deleting, the queries are stored on the right side under applied steps and an action can always be undone incase it was a mistake.
Once you are done click on close and apply on the top left to apply the changes you have made to the table.
4.Table view and report view
Table view is where our our actual data is ,and where data manipulation happens, once that is done the actions/results can be seen in the report view as charts,table or card visuals.
5.Data models
For data analysis, the analyst has to define the appropriate relationship model for the data.
A relation is a definition of how tables in the data set are related and communicate to each other.We have a Facts table and several table stemming from the central table, called dimension tables.
6.DAX and Logical Functions
DAX function create the bussiness logic and are the queries that help the analyst draw insights from the data.
That way the analyst can answer the questions that are arising from the data set basing the reasons on actual data.
7.Dashboard and reports
The analyst then draws and compares trend logically to come up with a detailed report.
The analyst then prepares a one page dashboard that highlights the key KPIs from the data in the form of charts,cards and tables.
The analyst then shares the findings with the relevant stakeholders for action.
Top comments (0)