Describe a project in which quantitative and qualitative data were used to conduct your analysis.
Data analysts should use all the available data to conduct the most impactful analyses. This could include both quantitative and qualitative data. The hiring manager wants to know how much experience you have, marrying qualitative to quantitative data. Sometimes it is straightforward, as is the case when working with survey data that has both qualitative and quantitative questions. Other times, it may take some creativity to find applicable qualitative data to use in conjunction with your quantitative data.
"If possible, I always try to incorporate qualitative data to support what the quantitative data is telling me. I have been fortunate enough to have conducted several analyses where qualitative survey data was readily available to me. However, when working with survey data, I don't think you should limit yourself to the qualitative data from one survey. When appropriate, I have found that there can be valuable qualitative data from other surveys or external sources. For one particular marketing analysis dealing with a new product evaluation, I reached out to the operations department to utilize qualitative data they had collected from distributors. Using this qualitative data strengthened the validity of my recommendations to the product development group."
This is a common question asked by interviewers for a data analyst position, so you should anticipate it during the interview. Come to the interview prepared with stories about several projects you've worked on that demonstrate various skills you've used. You can repurpose the stories to address specific questions by including details the interviewer asks you about. If you have several projects to choose from, share the project where you used the most creativity in merging the two types of data when answering this question.
