Concept: Granularity in Power BI and Microsoft Excel | Xyclos
Updated: Apr 19
What is granularity or granularity applied to a Data Model?
Granularity is the level of detail that a table contains.
In principle it can also be associated with the size of a table.
Types of granularity
4 levels of granularity can be considered:
Granularity level | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
High level of granularity | Detailed, composed of an individual record. | A sales record table, containing date, time, customer, category, product, quantity, unit value, total value |
Medium granularity | Data is aggregated or summarized at a mid-level detail. | A sales summary table with rows representing a product's category sales, total sales, average value, and average quantity per category. |
Low granularity | The data is highly summarized, which provides a broader view of the data | A sales summary table, containing the total value of sales by year, by month, by day, or by hour. |
Very low granularity | The data is extremely summarized and provides a high-level overview. | A sales table or value, containing only the total sales. |
These levels of granularity apply to both Excel and Power BI.
Examples of granularity in Microsoft Excel
Granularity level | Example |
High level of granularity | A Sheet containing a detailed Table or List of a sales record |
Medium granularity | A Chart or PivotTable with a summarized level of detail |
Low granularity | A Chart or PivotTable with a more summarized level of detail |
Very low granularity | A Cell that in turn contains a function that calculates sales totals |
Examples of granularity in Power BI
Granularity level | Example |
|---|---|
High level of granularity | A Table containing an individual record for each sale |
Medium granularity | A Visualization or Table calculated at a summarized level of detail |
Low granularity | A Visualization or Table calculated with a more summarized level of detail |
Very low granularity | A Measure with total sales |
Depending on the type of analysis, we will handle different types of granularity , both in Microsoft Excel and Power BI.
In this Data Analytics training course, you will learn in detail how to create a Data Model, use DAX and deepen granularity management to create very complete and perfectly structured analyzes to make decisions: