Эти данные помогают мне понять ситуацию.

Because данные is plural, and эти is the plural form of this/these.

Russian demonstratives change for gender and number:

• этот = this (masculine)
• эта = this (feminine)
• это = this (neuter)
• эти = these (plural)

Since данные means data and is treated as plural here, you need эти данные = these data / this data.

Because the subject is эти данные, which is plural.

Russian verbs in the present tense agree with the subject:

• он помогает = he helps
• она помогает = she helps
• они помогают = they help

So:

• Эти данные помогают... = These data help...

Even though English often treats data like a mass noun, Russian данные is normally grammatical plural, so the verb is plural too.

Because the verb помогать requires the dative case for the person being helped.

So:

• мне = to me
• тебе = to you
• ему / ей = to him / her

In Russian, помогать кому? means to help whom? and the answer goes in the dative.

So:

• Эти данные помогают мне... = These data help me...

Literally, it is closer to These data are helpful to me in understanding...

This is about aspect.

• понимать = imperfective, to understand / be understanding
• понять = perfective, to understand, to grasp, to come to understand

After помогать, both aspects can be possible in some contexts, but they mean slightly different things.

In this sentence, понять suggests reaching understanding of the situation as a result:

• помогают мне понять ситуацию = help me understand / help me figure out the situation

If you used понимать, it would sound more like helping with the ongoing process of understanding in general.

Because it is in the accusative case, since it is the direct object of понять.

The dictionary form is:

• ситуация = situation

For many feminine nouns ending in -я, the accusative singular changes to -ю:

• ситуация → ситуацию
• Россия → Россию
• неделя → неделю

So:

• понять ситуацию = to understand the situation

It is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence.

You can identify it by asking what helps me understand the situation?

Answer: эти данные

So:

• Эти данные = subject, nominative plural
• мне = dative
• ситуацию = accusative

Yes, here данные means data or information.

A useful thing to know is that данные originally comes from a form related to given, but in modern Russian it very commonly functions as a noun meaning data.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• data
• figures
• information
• collected information

So Эти данные помогают мне понять ситуацию could also be understood as:

• This information helps me understand the situation
• These figures help me understand the situation

Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English word order because case endings show the grammatical roles.

The neutral, straightforward order here is:

• Эти данные помогают мне понять ситуацию.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Мне эти данные помогают понять ситуацию.
• Эти данные мне помогают понять ситуацию.

These versions still mean basically the same thing, but the emphasis changes slightly.

For example:

• Мне эти данные помогают... can emphasize to me
• Эти данные мне помогают... can emphasize these data

English depends heavily on word order; Russian often uses word order more for emphasis and style.

A careful pronunciation would be roughly:

E-ti DAN-ny-ye pa-ma-GA-yut mnye pa-NYAT' see-tu-A-tsi-yu

A few helpful notes:

• Эти sounds like EH-ti
• данные has stress on the first syllable: ДАнные
• помогают has stress on -га-: помогАют
• мне sounds like mnye
• понять has stress on the last syllable: понЯть
• ситуацию has stress on а: ситуАцию

If you want to sound natural, the main sentence stress will often fall on the most important information, often something like дАнные or ситуАцию, depending on context.

Not in natural English.

Russian uses мне in the dative after помогают, but English does not say help to me in this structure. Natural English would be:

• These data help me understand the situation.
• This information helps me understand the situation.

So when translating, it is better to keep the Russian grammar in mind but not copy it word for word into English.