Knowledge Bank · Data & Analytics

What Is Data Science?

By Karthick Selvam · Published · Updated

Data science combines statistics, programming and domain knowledge to extract insights and build predictive models from data.

What data scientists do

Frame business questions, collect and clean data, explore patterns, build statistical or machine learning models and communicate results.

Core skills

Python or R, SQL, statistics, machine learning, data visualisation and storytelling.

How it differs from analytics

Analytics focuses on describing what happened; data science more often predicts and experiments.

Where it adds value

Forecasting, pricing, experimentation (A/B testing), personalisation and risk modelling.

Frequently asked questions

Is data science still in demand?

Demand has shifted towards people who combine modelling with engineering and business skills.

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