SimplyAnalytics: New Project

SimplyAnalytics stores all of your work in Projects. When you first log in, you’ll be prompted to enter one or more locations that you’re interested in, to get your first project running. You can enter as many locations as you like, from states to counties to census block groups, including typing in a street address (example: 2115 summit ave st paul.) Then click on "Create Project" to begin.

SimplyAnalytics will let you pick from some popular data variables to start your project. Note that your project defaults to the Map View.
 

The left side of your screen houses the “building blocks” of SimplyAnalytics. This is where you search for locations, data, and businesses that you'd like to add to your project. On the right of your screen are your Views. They auto-create some Views for you, but you can always create a View yourself by clicking on the New View button. You can think of Views as unique ways to view and analyze your data. The middle of the screen is your work space. Many work spaces have drop-down menus at the top that allow you to quickly edit the View.

Locations are the geographic areas used in creating a map or report. Select them by clicking on the Locations icon, and searching for a location or geographic area. Locations are based on States, Congressional Districts, counties, cities, zip codes, census tracks, and block groups. You can also search on a specific address.

Data variables are the statistical data that a map or report is based on. A variable can be demographic information or marketing information, including activities people are participating in, purchases they are making, and their attitudes and opinions on different topics. Select variables by selecting the Data icon. On the left side of the screen, you can browse data variables by folders, by categories, or by datasets (for example, Simmons consumer survey data.) You can also search by keyword.

Businesses are business locations and/or points of interest. You can search by keyword, such as pizza, or a business name. You can also browse industry codes (NAICS or SIC), or do an Advanced Search.

SimplyAnalytics stores all of your work in Projects. You can rename your current Project at the top of your screen, and manage the data, Views and locations under the Manage Project icon. You can create new Projects by selecting the New Project button, or refer to your previous Projects by selecting Open Project. 

In SimplyAnalytics, Views are unique ways to view and analyze your data. They auto-create some Views for you, but you can always create a View yourself by clicking on the New View button.

To create a new View, select New View towards the top right, and click on the appropriate View.

SimplyAnalytics includes several types of Views:
 

• Map: select a location and a data variable and it will generate a map that you can easily edit to suit your needs
• Comparison Table: create a table comparing multiple variables
• Ranking Table: Compare data for locations
• Quick Report: select this view if you need a comprehensive list of key data variables for any location
• Ring Study Table: create a data table for 1-, 3-, & 5-mile rings around a location
• Business Table: show data on businesses at a location
• Related Data Table: adds related data to your report for you
• Time Series Table: adds all years of data for a variable
• Location Query: search for locations that match your criteria with this powerful location query view. For example, you can search for all census tracts with a population greater than 5,000 and a median income greater than $150,000. You can add any locations that match your query to your project for use in other views.
• Histogram: A histogram is a chart that shows the frequency distribution of a data variable for the locations you select (e.g., median income for all counties in Minnesota)
• Bar Chart: visually compare data values across locations
• Scatter Plot: A scatter plot is a great tool for visualizing the relationship between two data variables. Select a location and a geographic unit (e.g., ZIP Codes in Chicago), then select an x-axis data variable and a y-axis data variable
• Simmons Crosstab Table: Simmons National Consumer Study (NCS) provides detailed data on the lifestyles, attitudes, brand preferences and media use of approximately 25,000 U.S. adults. Using this data you can create detailed crosstab tables that analyze the relationship between demographic characteristics and any of the consumer behavior data variables