As spreadsheets have expanded in power and ease of use, there has been
increased interest in using them in the classroom. There are many advan-
tages to using Excel in an introductory statistics course. An important ad-
vantage is that students, particularly business students, are more likely to
be familiar with spreadsheets and are more comfortable working with data
entered into a spreadsheet. Since spreadsheet software is very common at
colleges and universities, a statistics instructor can teach a course without
requiring students to purchase an additional software package.
Having identifi ed the strengths of Excel for teaching basic statistics, it
would be unfair not to include a few warnings. Spreadsheets are not statistics
packages, and there are limits to what they can do in replacing a full-featured
statistics package. This is why we have included our own downloadable
add-in, StatPlus™. It expands some of Excel’s statistical capabilities. (We
explain the use of StatPlus where appropriate throughout the text.) Using
Excel for anything other than an introductory statistics course would prob-
ably not be appropriate due to its limitations. For example, Excel can easily
perform balanced two-way analysis of variance but not unbalanced two-way
analysis of variance. Spreadsheets are also limited in handling data with
missing values. While we recommend Excel for a basic statistics course, we
feel it is not appropriate for more advanced analysis.System Information
You will need the following hardware and software to use Data Analysis
with Microsoft® Excel: Updated for Offi ce 2007®:
A Windows-based PC.
Windows XP or Windows Vista.
Excel 2007. If you are using an earlier edition of Excel, you will have to
use an earlier edition of Data Analysis with Microsoft® Excel.
Internet access for downloading the software fi les accompanying the text.
The Data Analysis with Microsoft® Excel package includes:
The text, which includes 12 chapters, a reference section for Excel’s
statistical functions, Analysis ToolPak commands, StatPlus Add-In
commands, and a bibliography.
The companion website at http://www.cengage.com/statistics/berk contains
92 different data sets from real-life situations plus a summary of what
the data set fi les cover, ten interactive Concept Tutorials, and installa-
tion fi les for StatPlus—our statistical application. Chapter 1 of the text
includes instructions for installing the fi les.
An Instructor’s Manual with solutions to all the exercises in the text is
available, password-protected on the companion website, to adopting
instructors.• • • • • • •
Preface v