Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel: Updated for Office 2007

4 Excel

Excel and Spreadsheets

Excel is a software program designed to help you evaluate and present infor-

mation in a spreadsheet format. Spreadsheets are most often used by busi-

ness for cash-fl ow analysis, fi nancial reports, and inventory management.

Before the era of computers, a spreadsheet was simply a piece of paper with

a grid of rows and columns to facilitate entering and displaying information

as shown in Figure 1-2.

Figure 1-

A sample

Sales

spreadsheet

you add these

numbers

to get this

number

Computer spreadsheet programs use the old hand-drawn spreadsheets

as their visual model but add a few new elements, as you can see from the

Excel worksheet shown in Figure 1-3.

Figure 1-

A sample

spreadsheet

as formatted

within Excel

However, Excel is so fl exible that its application can extend beyond tradi-

tional spreadsheets into the area of data analysis. You can use Excel to enter

data, analyze the data with basic statistical tests and charts, and then create

reports summarizing your fi ndings.