“ The improvement is 5x ” [FULL STOP] , it’s designed to make you think, “ That’s impressive; it must be worth my time and money. ” However, a standalone statement like that is a red flag, and knowing how to interrogate vague metrics is a foundational skill for anyone who wants to separate real value from clever marketing. That’s why I invite you to put on your data analyst goggles and uncover the context needed to get insights you can act on. The popularisation of analytics followed a similar path to psychology, moving from specialist guidance to self-help books and eventually to blog posts, YouTube videos, and inspirational Instagram quotes stamped on T-shirts. The whole idea was to pour our pain into words we could proudly wear on the best piece of clothing out there — the hoodie — and finally explain to the world what an analyst (me!) does, thinking it explains the analytics field, too.…