A research analyst is someone who is responsible for reviewing large amounts of data and analyzing the information using a variety of software tools and methodologies. The type of data varies widely, and is based on the type of investigation research and the analysts’ area of expertise. The type of data varies widely, and is based on the type of research and the analysts’ area of expertise. Although many people relate research analysis to scientific studies, they are often used for a much broader range of research topics over many disciplines.

There are four requirements for a research analyst: post-secondary education, experience, critical thinking skills, and technical skills. All research analysts are required to have all these skills in order to perform the tasks of this position. The exact type of education and experience required differs based on the type of research, but the level required is consistent across all fields.

A research analyst is required to have a graduate degree in their field of study as a requirement for this type of job. The bachelor's degree can be a general bachelor's of arts and sciences, but the graduate degree must be specialized. The breadth and depth of knowledge required to be an effective analyst is very detailed and covers a huge amount of information. The opportunity to learn information to the required level of detail is only available in a graduate degree program.

Experience as a research analyst is typically gained through completing the research projects and assignments that are part of a graduate degree program. The role of research analyst requires experience conducting detailed research, using appropriate resources and compiling the published works that are relevant to the research topic. Researchers are also required to validate information against other research publications, in order to provide support and validity to the current theory.

Critical thinking skills are a set of investigation tools and techniques that validate a theory against a clear line of logic. There are nine aspects to critical thinking: clarity, credibility, precision, accuracy, depth, breadth, relevance, fairness, and significance. These items are used together with logic to investigate information and create strong arguments.

A research analyst in the sciences is required to use data management technologies and software to review the experiment results and document the results. They are required to summarize the results and write a conclusion that is supported by the evidence. The data must then be organized in a way that presents allows other analysts to review and confirm the results. Research analysts in the humanities must have excellent reading and summarizing skills, the ability to locate information and use sources to support their conclusions.