Which analytics describe what happened in the data?

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Describing what happened in the data is the job of descriptive analytics. It focuses on summarizing historical information to give a clear view of past events. This includes everyday metrics like totals, averages, counts, and distributions, as well as simple trends shown in dashboards and reports. The idea is to paint a factual picture of the past without delving into why those events occurred, what might happen next, or what actions should be taken.

In contrast, diagnostic analytics would explore reasons behind the results (why something happened), predictive analytics would forecast future outcomes (what could happen), and prescriptive analytics would suggest actions to influence future results (what should be done). For example, a monthly report showing total sales and average order value over the last year is descriptive—it tells you what happened.