How people inquire

I appreciate how people use analytics to inquire.

Let me put forward an initial schema:

• Sometimes an inquiry is geared towards confirmation. You’re only interested in information that supports your original point.

• Sometimes an inquiry is geared towards a situation. You’re only interested in knowing what was going on. So you can keep an eye on it. (Situational reporting of straight numbers is not analytics. But sometimes people think it is.)

• Sometimes an inquiry is geared towards explaining a (perceived) an outlier. You’re only interested in information that explains why that thing, that doesn’t make sense, happened.

• Sometimes an inquiry is geared towards discovery. You’re only interested in learning something new that you can ultimately use to your advantage.

The greatest fault line that will continue to shake the relationship between analytics professionals and their customers is the misunderstanding between confirmation inquiries, specific explanatory inquiries, situational (reporting) inquiries, and discovery inquiries.

All four of those activities require different methods, mindsets, processes, technologies – and – ethical tolerance.

Is there anything you’d add to the schema?