Data analysis and visualization

with Power BI Desktop

Table of content
Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 2
Task 1. Data import ................................................................................................................................. 2
Task 2. Data preparation ......................................................................................................................... 3
Task 2.1. Setting data types................................................................................................................. 3
Task 2.2. Adding calculated columns .................................................................................................. 6
Task 3. Visualizing data in charts and tables ........................................................................................... 6
Task 3.1. Natural language queries ..................................................................................................... 7
Task 3.2. Changing the layout and format ......................................................................................... 8
Task 3.3. Adding tables and charts ...................................................................................................... 9
Task 4. Relationships in tables............................................................................................................... 10
Task 4.1. Adding another table ......................................................................................................... 10
Task 4.2. Adding related columns ..................................................................................................... 13
Task 5. Spatial visualization ................................................................................................................... 14

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Introduction
Power BI is a Data Visualization and Business Intelligence tool that converts data from different data
sources to interactive dashboards and BI reports. Power BI suite provides multiple software,
connector, and services - Power BI desktop, Power BI service based on Saas, and mobile Power BI
apps available for different platforms. These set of services are used by business users to consume
data and build BI reports.

Power BI desktop app is used to create reports, while Power BI Services (Software as a Service - SaaS)
is used to publish the reports, and Power BI mobile app is used to view the reports and dashboards.

Power BI Desktop is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. To download the latest version, you
can use the following link −

https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/

Task 1. Data import

In this exercise, we import data from Excel to Power BI desktop. Please, follow the screenshots

From the top menu choose “Get Data” -> Excel

Open the file: Sample Dataset Cars.xlsx

Choose “Cars” worksheet (you will see the preview of the worksheet) and click “Load”.

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To see your data imported choose the icon on the left side of the screen.

Task 2. Data preparation

Task 2.1. Setting data types

Data preparation is the act of manipulating (or pre-
processing) raw data into a form that can readily and
accurately be analyzed.

On the right side of the screen there is a data structure of

the table “Cars”. Some of the data fields are marked with the
symbol . This means that the field is treated as number
(other fields can be text or date).

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We need to change the type of some fields that should be numbers, these are:

 Year_resale_value
 Curb_weight
 Engine_size
 Fuel_capacity
 Length
 Price_in_thousands
 Sales_in_thousands
 Width

To change the type of the fields, click the icon of

three dots, and choose “Edit query”

This will switch to the edit mode, where you can

change the types of the fields.

Choose the ribbon “Transform”, where you can

find the options of changing field type.

Figure List of fields in the table

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Click on the column header to select
data type from the drop-down menu.
For the fields that should be in
currency format choose “Using
Locale..” option. Choose “English
United States”

Do the same for other fields that

should be in currency format.

For other fields choose accordingly

Decimal Number or Whole Number.

The errors can appear depending on

your system local settings (dot or
comma as decimal separator).

In the case of errors, go to Options and Settings (the button on the left top corner of the screen)

Change the regional settings to “English

(United States)”

When you set the correct type for all the

fields, click Close and Apply button (left
top of the screen).

If the wrong currency symbol is displayed you can change it in Modelling Tab.

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Task 2.2. Adding calculated columns
In our example of sales analysis of cars there is no column with sales value (which could be useful in
reports and visualization). But we can easily add the new column it by multiplying the price and the
number of cars sold.

To do this click “New Column” on the “Modeling” ribbon and type in the formula bar:

Change the default name Prompts will be shown while typing

Column on Sales_Value so you can just start writing and
choose the field name 

The new column with calculated value should appear as the last one in the dataset.

Task 3. Visualizing data in charts and tables

Now our task is to get some knowledge from the dataset.

Switch to the Report view.

Here we can make new tables and charts.

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Task 3.1. Natural language queries

In Power BI we can ask (not very sophisticated) queries in natural language. It is useful feature
that saves time.

To try this feature click on “Ask a Question”

Our aim is to get sales value achieved by each of the manufacturers.

So just type: sales value by manufacturer and see the results!

Try to ask other questions in natural language, for example Average fuel efficiency by
manufacturer

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Task 3.2. Changing the layout and format

You can sort the data on the chart by sales value or manufacturer.

Try to add a pie chart to your report. Use the right side of the screen (drag&drop the fields)

You can format the chart and any

element of your report (font size, color,
etc.) by clicking on painting tool

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Try some options, feel free to choose colors and fonts, add a legend…

Task 3.3. Adding tables and charts

We can compose our report on many pages. To add another page click on the yellow + at the bottom
of the screen. You can name your new page.

To add a table to your report choose

from the visualizations menu on the
right.

Add a table presenting AVERAGE fuel

efficiency by manufacturer. Format the table
(change colors and font size, sort the data)

Add the column chart and do the formatting

as well.

Add new page to your report. Make a line chart and table showing Prices and year resale value
by car model. Do some formatting to your chart.

Sort the data on the chart by year resale value.

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Use scatter chart to visualize horse power and price of cars.

Add a funnel control to the chart to change the range of variables displayed

Task 4. Relationships in tables

Task 4.1. Adding another table

As the name suggests, Relationship in Power BI is used to define the connections or the relation
between two or more tables. The relationship is used when we want to perform an analysis based
on multiple tables. Relationship helps us to display the data and correct information between
multiple tables. It is used to calculate the accurate results also.

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Click “Get Data” on “Home” ribbon and add to
your project the excel file
CarManufacturersByCountry.xlsx

In the navigator select

the “Countries“
spreadsheet

The structure of our new table appears on the right of

the screen.

As you can see the fields names are Column1,

Column 2 and Column3.

The fields names should be taken from the first row

of the table.

To edit our new table “Countries” click on three dots

icon

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Then in editing mode, open the drop-down menu

and select “Use the first row as headers”.

To apply changes to the table click on the button

“Close and Apply”

Now go to the Relationships editor by clicking the button

As you can see the relationship between our two tables was automatically recognized by Power
BI. The relationship is one to many.

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Task 4.2. Adding related columns
We are going to add another column to our “Cars” table which will be the name of the Country
where the manufacturer’s headquarters are located.

To do this we use DAX1 language command “Related”

Again switch to tables view

And display the table “Cars” (choose from the Fields on the right of the screen.

The table “Cars” must be displayed because now we are going to add related column to it.

Click on “New Column” on the “Home” ribbon

1
DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) is a formula expression language and can be used in different BI and
visualization tools.

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Start tying in the formula bar. Change the column name to “Country”

New column in the data set should appear as the last one, containing names of countries.

Add new column named “Region” in the same way.

Task 5. Spatial visualization

Since we have spatial data field in our dataset we can use maps for visualizations in our report.

Switch to the report view.

Choose the ArcGis Map tool from the visualizations palette.

Make visualization of Sales Value by country.

Drag and drop “Country” as Location and “Sales_Value” as Color.

To change the style of the map click on three dots in the upper right corner of
your map.

Try many different settings….

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Add another map showing the
number of distinct Manufacturers
by Country (how many
manufacturers there are in each
country)

Use the dropdown menu

to choose appropriate measure

After completing all of the tasks save your report as pdf and send it to the e-
learning platform.

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