January 2012 – Freakalytics

Quick and dirty analysis with Tableau 6
(in thirteen lucky steps)

2021Jun212012Jan08 by

Let’s face it: in the daily world of work, you often are asked to provide an answer to a new problem in less than a day. Of course, your boss tends to forget about the other three project deadlines you are currently facing, so you really have only 10 or 20 minutes to squeeze in a quick and dirty analysis.

If this sounds familiar to you, this cheat sheet includes thirteen flexible steps that can take you from being clueless to looking smart in just a few minutes, with a little help from Tableau. Hopefully you’ll be able to obtain enough information to come up with ideas for an e-mail update or talking points for the unexpected meeting that is looming large over your day, showing your boss and colleagues that you can deliver great results in time to be useful.

So, if you’re already a user of Tableau, this cheat sheet will guide you to do the analysis. Even if you are totally new to Tableau, you can see the possibilities of what you can accomplish in a short amount of time, once you get started.

Download a printer-friendly version of this article here.

1 What question will you examine?

Okay, in reality this step might take hours or even days! But let’s assume you have your question, and if it is complex, break it down into several, simpler questions.

2 Grab the closest, readily available dataset that is relevant

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A dashboard to select high-quality stocks with high yield and low volatility

2016May192012Jan03 by Freakalytics

Selecting a “safe” stock with a solid dividend is quite popular in the current economic climate. The traditional “safe” investments are paying extremely low interest rates while many American companies are growing revenues while paying out strong dividend yields (4% and higher) that exceed those of government bonds. In late December, I selected a set of stocks with solid financial strength ratings, positive revenue growth in the past year, dividends of 4% or more and lower than average stock price volatility (also called the beta of a stock.)

After some data cleanup, I assembled this into a dashboard for quick review and exploration. This dashboard allows you to select higher yields, higher revenue growth or lower levels of volatility. By clicking on an individual stock, you are taken to MSN Money web site (below initial dashboard) for their current “StockScouter” rating.