DATA ANALYSIS FOR BEGINNERS

Using MICROSOFT EXCEL

PART 1: DATA ENTRY AND STORAGE

A. NAVIGATE MS EXCEL ENVIRONMENT

1. An Excel file is called a Workbook.

- Default title is Book1
2. Ribbon broken into Tabs (Home, Insert, Page Layout…)
- Tabs broken into groups (Clipboard, Font, Alignment)
3. Name box (left) and formula bar (right)
- Name box shows address of current cell
- Formula bar shows contents of current cell
4. Columns Headings are Lettered, Rows Headings are Numbered
- Columns of a building, rows of chairs
5. Worksheet navigation buttons, Worksheet tabs
- Sheet1
6. Status bar
- Excel behaves differently depending on the current "mode"
Status Bar Modes
 Ready mode. This means nothing is being entered or edited on the
spreadsheet.
 Enter mode. This mode is when you are doing data entry, just
typing in the contents.

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  Edit mode. Edit the contents of the current cell. Double‐click on a
cell with data in it, or click inside the formula bar for this mode.
 Point mode. Used when linking to cell addresses within a formula or
from an Excel dialog window.

B. FORMATTING CELLS

The most formatting options are found on the Home Tab. All the options can
be found in the Format Cells window. This contains several tabs to help us format the
contents of our spreadsheet. This window can be opened by using the More Options
button at the end of the Format, Alignment and Number groups. You can also use
the Keyboard Shortcut – Ctrl‐1 or choose Format Cells… from the right‐click shortcut
menu.

a. Font
1. Font – Sets the font of the selected cell(s). Fonts are
different ways to show the same letters.
2. Font Size – Sets the size of the letters (the font). Larger
numbers give larger fonts.
3. Increase Font – Increases the font size
4. Decrease Font – Decreases the font size
5. Bold – Makes the selected cell(s) Bold
6. Italic – Makes the selected cell(s) Italicized
7. Underline – Makes the selected cell(s) Underlined. The drop down has a double underline.
8. Borders – Adds and removes borders for the selected cell(s). The drop down has More
Borders…
9. Fill Color – Changes the background color of the selected cell(s).
10. Font Color – Changes the color of the font of the selected cell(s).
11. More Options – This button will open the Format Cells dialog window.

b. Alignment

1. Top Align – Vertically aligns to the top of the cell.

2. Middle Align – Vertically aligns to middle of the cell.
3. Bottom Align – Vertically aligns to the bottom of the cell.
4. Orientation – Rotates the contents of the cell to the
currently displayed option.
5. Wrap Text – Displays contents on multiple lines within the
cell's column width.
6. Align Text Left – Horizontally aligns the contents to the left side of the column.
7. Center – Horizontally aligns the contents to the center of the cell.
8. Align Text Right – Horizontally aligns the contents to the right side of the cell.
9. Decrease Indent – Decreases the space between the text and the cell border
10. Increase Indent – Increases the space between the text and the cell border

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11. Merge and Center – Joins selected (adjacent) cells into one cell and centers the result. If
there is data in more than one cell, Excel will only keep the information from the upper left cell.
12. More Options – This button will open the Format Cells dialog window to the Alignment Tab.

c. Number
1. Number Format – Allows you to change the way
numeric values are displayed on the spreadsheet. The
drop down arrow gives you a list of the most common
formats, including a More Number Formats option.

2. Currency Style – Sets the selected cell(s) to the Currency

Style, this style keeps the dollar signs on the left side of the
cell, and the number on the right side. The drop down
arrow gives you a list of other currency formats, such as the
Euro (€).

3.Percent Style – Sets the selected cell(s) to the Percent Style, this style has zero decimal
places. Keyboard shortcut ‐ Ctrl‐Shift‐%. This button can be reset through Cell Styles on
the Home Tab.

3.Comma Style – Sets the selected cell(s) to the Comma Style, this style has a comma for
every thousand and two decimal places. This button can be reset through

5. Increase Decimal – Increases the number of decimal places showing to the right of the
decimal.

6. Decrease Decimal – Decreases the number of decimal places showing to the right of
the decimal.

7. More Options – This button will open the Format Cells dialog window to the Number
Tab.

d. Cells Structures
There are a set number of cells within a Microsoft Excel worksheet. In the Ribbon versions (2007
and later) there are 16,384 columns and 1,048,576 rows. As you insert and delete structures, you
are not reducing the number of cells, merely shifting where your data lies on the defined
worksheet.

d.1 Inserting
We use Insert to make new cells, columns, and rows. Excel determines what you are trying to
insert based on your selection. If a full column is selected, Excel will assume you mean a full
column and it will skip the Insert window.

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 ***The size and format of the new space is determined by the previous row or column.
This will push the existing cells, columns, or rows to the right or down to make room for the new
cells.

d.2 Deleting

We use Delete to remove cells, columns, and rows.

Excel determines what you are trying to delete
based on your selection. You can delete a cell,
row, or column by doing one of the following:
 Press Shift ‐ Ctrl ‐ ‐ on the
keyboard (Ctrl Minus)
 or from the Home tab, in the
Cells group, choose Delete
 or open the Right‐click menu
and choose insert.

**To delete multiple at once, select the number of cells/rows/columns you would like to delete
and follow the steps above. This will completely remove the structure, formatting and all, and
the rows/columns/cells will shift into this place.
If you only intended to delete the contents not the cells, undo and use the Clear Contents option
instead.

d.3 Cell Size (Row Height/Column Width)

You cannot resize one cell; the structure is dependent on the entire row and column where it
resides. The Row Height and Column Width settings can be found under the Format menu in the
Cells group of the Home tab.

Adjusting with the Mouse: When we resize we are growing away from the left.
 To resize the column, place your mouse cursor between the lines of the column headings.
The current column heading is in a box; all you need to do is resize the box to make it
wider. Put your mouse along the right side of the heading box until you see the resizing

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 arrow pointing in two directions. Click and drag away from the column letter. When you
let go of the mouse, the column will resize.

 To resize the row, place your mouse cursor between the lines of the row headings. The
current row heading is in a box; all you need to do is resize the box to make it wider. Put
your mouse along the bottom side of the heading box until you see the resizing arrow
pointing in two directions. Click and drag away from the row number. When you let go of
the mouse, the row will resize.

Auto‐fitting
You can use the option found on the Format menu, or place your mouse cursor between
the headings, with the two‐way arrow to help resize, and double‐click. The row or column should
AutoFit to the largest data length within its structure.

e. Fill Handle
The Fill Handle is in the bottom right corner of the selected cell.
When you place your mouse over this handle, it changes from a thick
white cross, to a thin black cross. Once you see the thin cross (no arrows) you can click and drag
the cell to fill its contents in a single direction (up, down, left or right). If you want to go in two
directions, you must first complete one way, let go of the mouse and then drag the handle in
the second direction.

1. When you use the Fill Handle to pull down a single number or plain text, it will
copy the data. When you use the Fill Handle to pull down a text with numbers, a date, a month
or a weekday it will fill in a series.

2. When you select two or more numbers (including dates) and then use the Fill Handle,
Excel will fill in the series, following the original pattern of the selected cells. It can only
follow simple addition and subtraction patterns.

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 LABORATORY EXERCISE 1. DATA ENTRY AND FORMATTING

Instructions:
1. Open Microsoft Excel.
2. Copy and format the data as shown below.
3. Save as DSA-LABACT1-[yourfullname]-[yourCourseYear-Section]
4. Send file to my gmail: [email protected]

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 PART 2 : FORMULA AND FUNCTIONS

A. FORMULA
In Microsoft Excel, you can enter numbers and mathematical formulas into cells.
Whether you enter a number or a formula, you can reference the cell when you
perform mathematical calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication,
or division. When entering a mathematical formula, precede the formula with an
equal (=) sign.

a.1 To enter a formula:

1. Click the cell pointer on the desired cell and type the formula commencing with =
2. Press ENTER, an arrow key or TAB key to confirm the data entry and to move the cell
pointer to another cell (to get the cell address of the value you want to use for
computation).

Basic Mathematical Operators based on priority:

/ and * (division and multiplication)
+ and – (addition and subtraction)
^ Exponentiation

In any cases specifically if there is/are formulas that needs to be computed first
use parentheses ( ). In Excel formulas, any formula enclosed with parenthesis means first
priority.

Syntax for computation using formula:

=value1 operator value2 …
Values are represented by either constant number, or cell address
Example:
a. =A1+A2
b. =A1*1
c. =(B2*10%) + A3 * (A1+A2)

PRACTICE 1 : Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division of Numbers

1. Type: Add, Subtract, Multiply, and Divide in cells A1, B1, C1,
and D1 respectively
2. Type: 12, 25, 11 and 75 in cells A2, B2, C2 and D2 respectively
3. Type: 8, 13, 6 and 5 in cells A3, B3, C3 and D3 respectively
4. Type: = A2 + A3 in cell A5 and press Enter
5. Type: = B2 + B3 in cell A5 and press Enter
6. Type: = C2 + C3 in cell A5 and press Enter

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 7. Type: = D2 + D3 in cell A5 and press Enter

PRACTICE 2 : Complex Formulas

Using the data in Practice 1, perform the following instructions:

1. Move to cell A7.
2. Type =3+3+12/2*4.
3. Press Enter.

To change the order of calculation, use parentheses. Microsoft Excel calculates

the information in parentheses first.

1. Double-click in cell A7.

2. Edit the cell to read =(3+3+12)/2*4.
3. Press Enter.

What did you observe?

Microsoft Excel adds 3 plus 3 plus 12, divides the answer by 2, and then multiplies
the result by 4. The answer, 36, displays in cell A7.

B. FUNCTIONS

By using functions, you can quickly and easily make many useful calculations, such
as finding an average, the highest number, the lowest number, and a count of the
number of items in a list. Microsoft Excel has many functions that you can use.

To use functions, you need to understand reference operators. Reference operators

refer to a cell or a group of cells. There are two types of reference operators: range
and union.
 A range reference refers to all the cells between and including the
reference. A range reference consists of two cell addresses separated by
a colon.
Examples:
A1:A3 includes cells A1, A2, and A3.
A1:C3 includes cells A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, and C3.

 A union reference includes two or more references. A union reference

consists of two or more numbers, range references, or cell addresses
separated by a comma.

Example: The reference A7,B8:B10,C9,10 refers to cells A7, B8 to B10, C9

and the number 10.

Functions are prewritten formulas. Functions differ from regular formulas in that
you supply the value but not the operators, such as +, -, *, or /.

For example, you can use the SUM function to add. When using a function,
remember the following:

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 1. Use an equal sign to begin a formula.
2. Specify the function name.
3. Enclose arguments within parentheses. Arguments are values on which you want
to perform the calculation. For example, arguments specify the numbers or cells you
want to add.
4. Use a comma to separate arguments.

=function name (range of cells)

Example: =SUM(A1:10)
Sum is the function name , A1:A10 is the range of cells, this means that microsoft
excell will add the values stored in cells A1 to A10.

Since functions are predetermined formula, Microsoft

Excel has a library of this functions including the proper and correct
syntax. Once function name was read by MS Excel compiler, it
already knows what to do with the values.

The AutoSum

AutoSum button on the Home tab to automatically add a column or row of

numbers. When you press the AutoSum button , Excel selects the numbers it thinks you
want to add. If you then click the check mark on the Formula bar or press the Enter key,
Excel adds the numbers. If Excel's guess as to which numbers you want to add is wrong,
you can select the cells you want.

The AutoSum has also options when dropdown button was selected.

 Sum – adds values within the range of cells

 Average- returns the average of the values within the
range
 Count Numbers- literally counts the number of cells with
values within the range
 Max – returns the highest
value found within the
range
 Min- returns the lowest
value found within the
range
More Functions means: more
options of functions depending on purpose.

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PRACTICE 3

Perform the basic functions used in Excel, given the

data presented.

Provide output for SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MAX and

MIN.

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 LABORATORY EXERCISE 2. FORMULA

Instructions:

1. Copy the data and format the text and numbers as shown on the worksheet below.
2. Create a formula to compute for the following
 Total Number of Hamsters
 Average MPH value
 Average RPM Value
 Total Runtime (Seconds)
 Grand Total Inches
 Grand Total Revolution
 Highest Total Runtime(Seconds) Value
 Highest Activity Count Value

3. Save your file as DSA-LABACT1-[yourfullname]-[yourCourseYear-Section]

4. Send file to my gmail: [email protected]

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