Write Down What You Found

A chart no one explains is wasted work. The real value of EDA appears when you turn plots into written findings. ✍️

Do not wait until the end to take notes. Jot each observation the moment you see it, before the detail fades from memory.

Notebooks let you mix prose and code. A markdown cell under each chart captures what it shows in plain language.

Separate what the data shows from what you suspect. State the observation first, then mark any explanation clearly as a guess.

Each note should answer one of your starting questions. Linking a finding to its question shows whether you have made real progress.

Higher is vague; 28 percent higher is useful. Adding a number to each finding makes it concrete and easy to defend later.

Note the messy parts too: missing months, odd outliers, duplicate IDs. These caveats protect anyone who reuses your work.

Exploration always raises new puzzles. Keeping a running list of open questions turns dead ends into tomorrow's starting points.

Findings should point somewhere. Convert your strongest notes into a short list of clear next steps, like cleaning a column or building a model.

Close the notebook with a few sentences anyone can read. A plain-language summary is what stakeholders will actually remember.

Good notes let someone rerun your path. Clear cells and a tidy summary mean your findings hold up when checked by others.

Where do your written findings best belong during EDA?

You record observations as you go, quantify them, flag caveats, and end with next steps and a plain summary. Findings drive action. ✅