MS Excel Data Analysis Tools: Lesson 2

Basic Statistical Concepts

• Statistical methods are mathematical techniques used to interpret numerical data from entities, individuals, or observations.
• Statistics can refer to a particular measure or formula, such as an average, index number, or coefficient of correlation.
• Descriptive Statistics involve summarizing and presenting data in an easy-to-understand form, but do not draw conclusions or make generalizations.
• Inferential Statistics make use of generalizations, predictions, estimations, or decisions in the face of uncertainty, and can draw conclusions about a wider sample group.

Population and Sample

• A population is a large group that is not practical to examine in its entirety due to costs and feasibility.
• A sample is a part of the population that is examined to draw conclusions about the entire population.

Variables

• A variable is a characteristic that changes or varies over time and/or for different individuals or objects.
• Variables can be qualitative (measuring a quality or characteristic) or quantitative (measuring a numerical value).

Qualitative and Quantitative Variables

• Qualitative variables measure a quality or characteristic, such as color or size.
• Quantitative variables measure a numerical value, such as the number of tons of coal consumed.

MS Excel Data Analysis Tool

• Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program for analyzing, storing, organizing, managing, manipulating, and sharing information.
• Excel data is organized into rows and columns, and can be text, numbers, dates, or formulas.

MS Excel Interface

• The Excel interface is the screen where users interact with the tools.
• The Ribbon is a toolbox at the top of the screen, organized into three main parts: Tabs, Groups, and Commands.
• The File Tab is used to create, open, save, and print documents.
• The Quick Access Toolbar is a customizable toolbar for frequently used items.

Worksheet Navigation

• By default, every workbook starts with one sheet.
• Worksheet tabs are used to display and navigate between worksheets.
• Normal View, Page Layout View, and Page Break Preview are different views for working with and printing worksheets.

Working with Cells

• Cells are the basic building blocks of a worksheet, and are the intersection of a row and a column.
• Cells have a unique address based on their column and row.
• Formulas can be used to perform calculations and analysis on cell data.

Formulas

• IF statements are used to test conditional statements and return values based on the result.
• Nested IF statements can be used to test multiple conditions.
• RANK functions are used to rank values in a list.
• AVERAGE functions are used to calculate the average of a range of values.

Learn about the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program and its capabilities for data analysis, storage, organization, manipulation, and sharing. Explore how data is structured in Excel, including text, numbers, dates, and formulas. Understand how to use Excel for budgeting, creating charts and graphs, and conducting statistical calculations and analysis.