About This Study Plan
This 7-day study plan breaks the DATAPLUS (Data+) exam preparation into 7 focused study sessions with 28 actionable tasks. The plan covers all 5 exam domains — Data Concepts and Environments, Data Acquisition and Preparation, Data Analysis, Visualization and Reporting, Data Governance — ensuring complete coverage. Intensive 7-day review for CompTIA Data+ (DA0-002) covering data concepts, mining, manipulation, visualization, and governance.
Prerequisites
- Basic database/spreadsheet experience
- 4–6 hours per day
Study Schedule
- Data types: structured, semi-structured, unstructured
- Database types: relational (SQL), non-relational (NoSQL), and data warehouses
- Data schemas: star schema, snowflake schema, denormalization
- Data sources: APIs, flat files, web scraping, IoT, surveys
- Data acquisition methods and ETL/ELT processes
- Sampling techniques: random, stratified, convenience, systematic
- Data quality: completeness, accuracy, consistency, timeliness
- Statistical concepts: population, sample, bias, outliers
- SQL operations: SELECT, JOIN, GROUP BY, HAVING, subqueries
- Data cleaning: deduplication, imputation, normalization
- Statistical measures: mean, median, mode, standard deviation, variance
- Hypothesis testing, correlation, and regression basics
- Chart types: bar, line, pie, scatter, histogram, heat map
- When to use each chart type based on data and audience
- Dashboard design principles and KPI displays
- Storytelling with data: narrative, context, and annotations
- Data governance frameworks and policies
- Data classification, retention, and disposal
- Privacy regulations: GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA implications
- Data security: encryption, masking, access controls
- Take a full timed practice exam
- Review all incorrect answers
- Focus on chart selection and SQL query scenarios
- Review statistical concepts
- Chart type decision tree
- SQL syntax cheat sheet
- Quick flashcard pass
- Rest before exam
Study Tips
Know which chart type to use for different data scenarios — this is tested heavily.
Understand SQL syntax even if you are not a developer.
Data governance and quality appear throughout — not just in one domain.
Recommended CompTIA Study Resources
Supplement this study plan with the official CompTIA CertMaster labs and practice tests. Download the free exam objectives PDF from CompTIA's website and use it as a checklist — cross off each objective as you master it. Professor Messer's free video series covers every CompTIA exam objective and is widely regarded as one of the best free resources available.
Ready to Practice?
Put your study plan into action with Data+ practice questions.