Collecting Data
In this chapter, we will discuss sources of data. Sometimes data is not already nicely and neatly stored for you, and you will have to reach out to collect your own. Here, we will discuss the most common sources of information and a couple of systems that will pull or store data automatically. You will also learn how to make your queries more efficient if you are accessing a database. These resources and techniques are crucial, not only to passing the CompTIA Data+ certification exam but also to the everyday life of a data analyst.
In this chapter, we’re going to cover the following main topics:
- Utilizing public sources of data
- Collecting your own data
- Differentiating Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) and Extract, Load, Transform (ELT)
- Understanding online transactional processing (OLTP) and online analytical processing (OLAP)
- Optimizing query structure
