◆ Data & Analytics

What a data analyst
really does.

20 tasks, each one witnessed by the sources that watched the job — and behind every one, a prompt you can use tonight.

20evidenced tasks

8,290in the US (2025)

$69,460median pay / year

7systems it runs on

See the 20 tasks ↓Open in the atlas The full career map →

This is what one task looks like here

Collect data through surveys

Design a ten-question field survey for park users that records visit f…3 sources agree

The shape of the day

tap a movement to see its tasks

Which one is you, right now?

Pick the moment · no score, no sign-up

Which moment is you right now?

Whichever you pick, the task behind it opens below.

The work, task by task

20 tasks

Hands on the work11

Interpret survey results+

Run the completed survey dataset through the standard analysis routine, produce charts of activity by site and a one-page findings brief highlighting statistically significant differences, and send both to the project manager and planning team.

jdwiki2 agree

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Implement data collection procedures.+

Create the step-by-step field protocol for data collectors including instrument setup, calibration steps, daily log templates, and error-handling instructions, print ten copies for training and email the master to the survey team.

onetwiki2 agree

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Adjust survey design for practicality+

Redesign the household survey so interview time drops to 15 minutes: remove redundant topography items, convert open-ended questions to coded choices, ensure electronic form captures GPS readings and timestamps, and run a five-interviewer pilot next Tuesday to verify practicality.

jdonet2 agree

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Surveying methods+

Draft the methods section describing how I calibrated the total station, leveled the benchmarks, recorded horizontal and vertical survey measurements, processed raw points into finished coordinates, and logged quality checks for the county right-of-way report due Tuesday.

esco

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Address sampling issues and nonresponse problems+

Diagnose and fix sampling bias and nonresponse in the coastal household survey: compare respondent demographics to the frame, weight by inverse selection probability, document any post-stratification adjustments, and produce a short memo with recommended recontact strategy by Thursday.

jdwiki2 agree

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Write proposals to win new projects.+

Draft a winning proposal for the county flood-mapping contract: outline survey design, equipment calibration procedures, deliverables, a three-month timeline, costing by line item, and two references; produce a client-ready PDF for submission next Wednesday.

onet

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Summarize survey findings visually+

Create a visual summary of the household energy survey: produce three charts showing consumption by region, response rate by strata, and key correlations, annotate with one-paragraph takeaways, and export a two-slide visual pack for Friday's review.

jd

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Collaborate with team members+

Coordinate with the field team and analyst group to finalise the next wave: share the updated instrument, assign which technician will calibrate each device, set the data delivery schedule, and confirm daily check-ins starting Monday.

jd

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Watch and assess4

Grow the practice2

Keep the record2

Work with people1

What the work runs on

named inside the evidenced tasks

11 tasksMicrosoft Excelauthor a structured questionnaire and print-ready data entry sheets for systematic field collectionOpen its task library → 10 tasksMicrosoft Wordauthor a clear, printable procedural manual and daily log templates for use by field teamsOpen its task library →

3 tasksMicrosoft Teamsschedule interviews and training sessions and send calendar invites to shortlisted candidates

2 tasksIBM SPSS Statisticsperform statistical tests, generate charts and significance reports from survey datasets

1 taskMicrosoft Projectlay out sampling timeline, resource assignments, pilot tests and checkpoints for field validation

1 taskMicrosoft PowerPointassembles charts with annotations into a concise slide pack for stakeholder review

1 taskMicrosoft Accessingest varied instrument logs, link tables and produce a single cleaned dataset

Browse every evidenced software task →

The same task, four heights

this page is height one

ExecuteDo today's task, with fewer mistakesyou are here → ImproveMake it easy for the next person to acceptin the atlas → DecideWork out the right move when it is unclearin the atlas → BecomeLearn the pattern so it stops coming backin the atlas →

Can AI actually do this job?

the honest answer

It can

where it genuinely helps

Explain the theory behind the work
Draft, tidy and structure your writing
Rehearse a hard conversation before you have it
Build a study plan that fits your gaps

It cannot

where it stops, completely

Be in the room where a data analyst actually works
Carry the responsibility when the call is wrong — that weight stays yours
Notice what no one wrote down: the hesitation, the thing left unsaid
Live with the outcome

What the work pays

two countries, two different measures

United States

this exact occupation · BLS 2025

$69,460 a year — the middle: half earn more, half earn less
The lowest tenth earn near $39,260; the top tenth near $130,860
8,290 people employed in this occupation

Where the evidence lives

open any of it yourself

O*NETThe US Department of Labor's own record of this job6 of these tasks ESCOThe European skills and occupations register8 of these tasks Job descriptionsReal postings, in the wild9 of these tasks WikipediaHow the world describes this work5 of these tasks US Bureau of Labor StatisticsPay and employment, by occupation2025 figures UK NOS LANEnC5Analyse data from field surveys and report findingsnational standard UK NOS COGPOLY24Assess data and produce reportsnational standard

Close to this work

12 nearby

Data & AnalyticsFinancial Analyst26 evidenced tasks Data & AnalyticsExperimentation Analyst26 evidenced tasks Data & AnalyticsData Governance Analyst26 evidenced tasks Data & AnalyticsR Analyst26 evidenced tasks Data & AnalyticsCrm Analyst26 evidenced tasks Data & AnalyticsWeb Analyst26 evidenced tasks Data & AnalyticsGrowth Analyst26 evidenced tasks Data & AnalyticsProduct Analyst25 evidenced tasks

Questions people actually ask

You usually split time between fieldwork and desk work. Mornings might include training recruiters, checking survey equipment, or running underwater or land surveys and recording measurements on-site.

Afternoons are often behind a computer: entering or cleaning data in Excel or Access, running analyses in IBM SPSS Statistics, and making charts in PowerPoint or Word to summarize findings for the team using Microsoft Teams to collaborate.

Expect Excel daily for raw data cleaning and simple summaries, and IBM SPSS Statistics for formal analyses like weighting and nonresponse adjustments. Use Access if the project has larger databases.

Microsoft Project helps schedule field teams; Teams and Word are for reports and communication; PowerPoint is for visual summaries. You’ll toggle among these several times each week.

You follow ethical standards: collect only needed variables, get consent in writing, and store identifiers separately. On the systems above, limit access to Excel/Access files and use Teams or SharePoint with restricted permissions.

When presenting, anonymize results in PowerPoint and Word and report sampling methods and nonresponse rates so readers can judge bias. Ask your institutional review board (IRB) or supervisor for site-specific rules.

BLS reports 8,290 employed in this category. The 2025 median wage is $69,460 per year. The lowest tenth earn about $39,260, and the top tenth make about $130,860, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Actual pay depends on your location, industry (government, private, marine research), and whether you run field teams or focus on analysis.

Begin with basics: a statistics course that covers sampling and nonresponse, and a class on survey methods that includes question testing and ethics. Practice with Excel and then learn IBM SPSS Statistics for weighting and hypothesis tests.

Get hands-on by helping on a small field project: calibrate instruments, record measurements, recruit respondents, and document operations. That practical loop—design, collect, analyze—matters most.

A data analyst focuses on survey design, sampling issues, data cleaning, and statistical interpretation (using Excel, SPSS, Access). They also write proposals and summarize findings for stakeholders.

A field surveyor or marine survey technician spends more time operating instruments, mapping marine environments, calibrating equipment, and recording measurements in the field. Many projects need both roles and overlap on documentation and instrument checks.

Learn to design and test clear survey questions and then handle the resulting data. That means knowing how to write and pilot questions, detect nonresponse problems, and adjust sampling or weighting.

Pair that with hands-on Excel skills (cleaning, pivot tables) and basic SPSS use for tests and weighting. Those skills let you turn field measurements and survey responses into reliable results you can visualize in PowerPoint.