BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

TIMOTHY KUDYA (BIT-027-19)

Creating a Power BI Report and Dashboard for Analyzing Early Marriages

Trends in Malawi
Introduction: Addressing the challenge of early marriages in Malawi requires
effective data gathering and analysis. Power BI, a robust data visualization tool,
can help you create customized reports and interactive dashboards to gain insights
into early marriage trends in Malawi and communicate the findings to
stakeholders. Here, I'll guide you through the steps to achieve this, using Power BI
Cloud Service for both report and dashboard creation.
Step 1: Data Preparation Begin by collecting and preparing the dataset on
early marriages in Malawi. Ensure you have the necessary data sources, such as
surveys or reports, and clean, organize, and structure the data appropriately. This
step is crucial for ensuring the accuracy and reliability of your analysis.
Step 2: Power BI Cloud Service
 Log in to Power BI Cloud Service at https://app.powerbi.com.
 Upload and import the early marriages dataset into Power BI Cloud Service.
 Transform and clean the data as needed. This may involve data modeling
and creating relationships between tables if you're working with multiple
datasets.
 Create visualizations and charts that will help analyze early marriages trends
effectively. Choose visuals that best represent your data, such as bar charts,
line graphs, or maps.
Step 3: Generate the Report Design and build your report within Power BI
Cloud Service by following these steps:
 Create and configure visualizations in the online Power BI environment.
 Save your report in Power BI Cloud Service to retain your progress.
Step 4: Access the Report Online
You can access your report in the Power BI Cloud Service by logging into the
Power BI portal at https://app.powerbi.com. This online access allows you to view
and share the report with collaborators and stakeholders.
Step 5: Generate a Corresponding Dashboard
 In the Power BI Cloud Service, go to your workspace and select
"Dashboards."
 Click on the "Create a dashboard" option to start building your dashboard. •
Add Tiles from Reports: a. Open the report you want to pin visuals from. b.
Select a visual (chart, table, etc.) that you want to include on the dashboard.
c. Click on the "Pin to dashboard" option and choose the dashboard you've
just created.
 Arrange and Customize Tiles: Organize and customize the dashboard layout
to effectively convey insights about early marriages in Malawi. You can
resize and move tiles as needed to create a visually appealing and
informative dashboard.
 Add Interactivity: Enhance the dashboard's user experience by defining
interactions between dashboard tiles. For example, configure slicers and
filters to affect multiple visuals simultaneously, allowing users to explore the
data more deeply.
 Implement Global Filters (Optional): To provide users with broader control
over displayed early marriage data, you can add global filters at the
dashboard level. This enables users to customize their view of the data.
Step 6: Share the Dashboard
 Publish the Dashboard: Once your dashboard is ready, click on the "Publish"
button within the Power BI Cloud Service to make it accessible to your
stakeholders.
 Share with Collaborators: Share the dashboard with your intended
collaborators, which may include humanitarian organizations, policymakers,
researchers, and anyone interested in early marriage analysis in Malawi. You
can share by email or generate a secure link.
 Manage Access Permissions: Ensure that you manage access permissions to
maintain data security and comply with privacy regulations. Power BI
allows you to control who can view and interact with your dashboard,
ensuring that sensitive data is protected.