Analytics

Question 1

Name at least 8 ways that Tableau makes dates cool.

Hint: Know how to demo these!

Answer 1

1. Relative date filtering
2. Hierarchy
3. Reorder hierarchy
4. Choose any level of the hierarchy
5. Different date parts on different shelves
6. Fiscal year
7. Continuous dates
8. Continuous dates vs discrete dates hierarchies

Question 2

How do I make a monthly trend line span 2 years?

Answer 2

Use the continuous date hierarchy.

Question 3

How do I display ranks or line numbers?

Answer 3

Use the quick table calculations > Rank

Old way: create a calculated field with index()

Question 4

When should I use ‘Add to Context’?

Answer 4

Use when:
A) A filter doesn’t change often
B) When the data will be reduced to significantly less number of records
The context filter creates a temporary table, which contains a subset of records matching the filter. All further filters are run against this temp table.

Question 5

Are my calculations written back to the database?

Answer 5

No. The calculations are computed on the fly based on the current values in the database. Tableau is for the most part read-only.

Question 6

Are calculations performed locally in Tableau?

Answer 6

Tableau pushes most calculations back to the database. All aggregations are performed on the database. Table calculations, most reference lines, and some types of filters are performed locally.

Question 7

I want the top ‘n’ products for each region. How do I do this?

Answer 7

2 methods:

1. Create a set containing country and product (click both dimensions and right click > combine fields). Add this dimension between country and product, and sort by it.
2. Create a rank calculated field with index(). And the field to the rows shelf between country and product.

Question 8

I want to filter out all unprofitable records?

Answer 8

Drag profit onto the filter shelf. Choose disaggregated field: ‘#All values’. Drag the slider to 0.

Question 9

Does Tableau do small multiples? What are multiples?

Answer 9

Yes. Small multiples are groupings of visualisations in a cross-tab format. Compared to 3D visualisations these are much easier to read and comprehend.

Question 10

How do I change my numbers to format in percent?

Answer 10

Right click on the field in the data window and choose:
Field properties > Number format
Select percentage.
On a sheet right click the tablet or number and choose Format.

Question 11

Can I format according to my corporate standard?

Answer 11

Yes. Once you have your desired formatting you can copy paste formatting between sheets:
Right click sheet tab > ‘Copy Formatting’ > multi-select sheets and ‘Paste Formatting’

Question 12

What are my formatting options?

Answer 12

Plenty of options. They can be explored via the format menu. Formatting includes field level formatting, row and column formatting, sheet formatting, and you can change fonts, borders, shading, colours, totals, and more.

Question 13

Can I drill down?

Answer 13

NOTE: “How do you mean?” Drilling down/into data can mean different things to people.

Yes. Right click on anything to view the raw data. Or by adding more fields. You can also use action links to link sheets with more detail. You can also filter a secondary sheet by an element in the primary sheet.

If all you need are hierarchies, then yes. Simply create the hierarchy by dropping the fields on top of each other on the data window. You can select the plus signs to drill down.

Question 14

Can I put a field in more than one hierarchy?

Answer 14

Yes. Right click on the field and ‘duplicate’. Then add it to another hierarchy.

Question 15

Can I apply a filter to all my sheets? To my entire dashboard?

Answer 15

Yes. Right click on the filter and choose ‘Apply to Worksheets’. Or you can choose ‘All using this data source’ to filter all views in the workbook.
Additionally sheets can be set up to filter other work sheets on the dashboard.

Question 16

I don’t want to summarise my data - I want to see all of it. Is this possible?

Answer 16

Yes. (Uncheck Analysis > Aggregate Data). Tableau can do both aggregation and plot the raw data. Reference lines can be used to show other summaries of the data while still displaying all details.

Question 17

How do I get the count of customers per region?

Answer 17

Getting a count is as simple as right clicking on the dimension and choosing the aggregation. However, there is count distinct for multiple entries, and where you only want unique values.

If file based data you will need to create an extract first.

Question 18

In a web browser, looking at a viz, can I change the measurement that is displayed?

Answer 18

Yes. Using the ‘interactive’ parameters you can allow the web user to select their desired parameter. There are a few approaches. Can also use the light-weight editor mode.

Question 19

There are a couple of ways to create sets in Tableau. Demonstrate them and describe the differences between each.

Answer 19

Right click on a single dimension in the data window and choose ‘Create Set’. This allows you to select members, apply filters to those members, and restrict the list to the top members filtered by an expression.

Select some marks in a view and right click > Create Set. This set contains the complete set of dimensions in the select marks. This means the set cannot be edited.

Question 20

The first three dimensions are lumped into one filed with commas. Why?

Answer 20

You have too many dimensions in your rows. Tableau allows up to 6 dimensions for both the row and column shelf.

You can control this behaviour by selecting:
Analysis > Table layout > Advanced
It will allow you to change the maximum.

Question 21

I want to find the click through rate. It is clicks divided by impressions. How do I do this?

Answer 21

Calculations require a calculated field with aggregation. I.e.
Sum([Clicks])/Sum([Impressions])

Question 22

Does Tableau do What-if Analysis?

Answer 22

Yes. A parameter can be created to provide user input. I.e. What if sales increased by 20%

Note: Demonstrate!

Question 23

I want to find the average of my monthly sales.

Answer 23

Sum the sales for each month and then find the average of those sales. Tableau can do this with either a summarised extract or reference lines.

Question 24

Can I filter the results of a Table Calculation?

Answer 24

Yes. Simply double click on the field or right click and choose filter. This filtering happens in Tableau and not at the database which enables more complex filtering scenarios.