Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel: Updated for Office 2007

Chapter 11 Times Series 469

To create a line plot of liquor sales:

1 Return to the Liquor Sales worksheet.

2 Click Manipulate Columns from the StatPlus menu and then click

Create Two-way Table.

3 Select Sales for the Data Values variable, Month for the Column

Levels, and Year for the Row Levels.

4 Deselect the Sort the Column Levels checkbox.

Note: You want to deselect this checkbox to prevent the two-way

table from sorting the columns in alphabetical order, rather than

leaving them in time order.

5 Send the two-way table to a new worksheet named Sales by Year.

6 Click OK.

7 Go to the Sales by Year worksheet.

8 Select the range B2:M14 and click the Line button from the Charts

group on the Insert tab. Click the fi rst chart subtype (Line). Move the

chart to a new chart sheet named Liquor Sales Line Plot.

9 Enter Liquor Sales versus Month for the chart title, Months for the

x-axis title, and Sales ($mil) for the y-axis title. Remove the legend and

gridlines from the plot.

Figure 11-26 shows the formatted line chart.

Figure 11-26
Line plot
of monthly
liquor sales