---
title: "Data Analytics — Definition, Types & Techniques"
canonical: "https://www.owox.com/glossary/data-analytics"
updated: "2026-10-26"
---

# What is data analytics?

Data analytics is the process of analyzing raw data using statistical methods, algorithms, and tools to extract meaningful insights.

[Data Analytics](/blog/topics/data-analytics) · Updated March 7, 2025 · 1 min read

Data analytics is the work of turning raw data into answers a business can act on: collecting it, cleaning it, modeling it and reading what it says.

## The four types of data analytics

*   **Descriptive:** what happened, such as last month’s revenue by channel.
*   **Diagnostic:** why it happened, such as which campaign drove the drop.
*   **Predictive:** what is likely to happen, such as next quarter’s demand.
*   **Prescriptive:** what to do about it, such as where to move budget.

## How it works

Most analytics follows the same path: define the question, collect the data, prepare it, analyze it and deliver the result to the people who decide. [The data analysis process](/blog/articles/data-analysis-process-insights-delivery) walks through each step.

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## Why the definition matters

Two analysts can start from the same data and report different numbers, because “revenue” or “active user” was defined differently. Agreeing on those definitions once, in a shared model, is what makes the numbers trustworthy.

For the types in depth, what a data analyst does and why numbers disagree, read [What is data analytics?](/blog/articles/what-is-data-analytics).

## Topics

[Glossary](/glossary)

[Data Analytics](/blog/topics/data-analytics)

## Related terms

[Data Analytics Tools](/glossary/data-analytics-tools)

[What is Data Science? Definition & Use Cases](/glossary/data-science)

[Data Model](/glossary/data-model)

[What is Data Value? How to Measure & Maximize It](/glossary/data-value)

[AI-Powered Data Modeling](/glossary/ai-powered-data-modeling)

[Analytics-Ready Data](/glossary/analytics-ready-data)

## Related articles

## Learn more about analytics

[data analytics · What is data analytics? How data becomes an insight you can trust · Oct 14, 2026](/blog/articles/what-is-data-analytics)

[data analytics · The data analysis process: 4 stages from question to delivered insight · Oct 14, 2026](/blog/articles/data-analysis-process-insights-delivery)

[data analytics · Augmented analytics: what it is, use cases and examples, and where it fails · Oct 14, 2026](/blog/articles/augmented-analytics-use-cases)

## Links

Pages this page links to, on this site and on docs.owox.com. Where the page has a Markdown twin, its address follows the link.

- [Data Analytics](https://www.owox.com/blog/topics/data-analytics) — /blog/topics/data-analytics.md
- [The data analysis process](https://www.owox.com/blog/articles/data-analysis-process-insights-delivery) — /blog/articles/data-analysis-process-insights-delivery.md
- [Book a Demo](https://www.owox.com/book-a-call) — /book-a-call.md
- [What is data analytics?](https://www.owox.com/blog/articles/what-is-data-analytics) — /blog/articles/what-is-data-analytics.md
- [Glossary](https://www.owox.com/glossary) — /glossary.md
- [Data Analytics Tools](https://www.owox.com/glossary/data-analytics-tools) — /glossary/data-analytics-tools.md
- [What is Data Science? Definition & Use Cases](https://www.owox.com/glossary/data-science) — /glossary/data-science.md
- [Data Model](https://www.owox.com/glossary/data-model) — /glossary/data-model.md
- [What is Data Value? How to Measure & Maximize It](https://www.owox.com/glossary/data-value) — /glossary/data-value.md
- [AI-Powered Data Modeling](https://www.owox.com/glossary/ai-powered-data-modeling) — /glossary/ai-powered-data-modeling.md
- [Analytics-Ready Data](https://www.owox.com/glossary/analytics-ready-data) — /glossary/analytics-ready-data.md
- [data analytics · Augmented analytics: what it is, use cases and examples, and where it fails · Oct…](https://www.owox.com/blog/articles/augmented-analytics-use-cases) — /blog/articles/augmented-analytics-use-cases.md