Data Analysis In Excel

Data analysis in Excel enables you to import, analyze, browse, clean, and display your data using this five-problem-one-solution data management tool. In my field of work, MS Excel is my main tool for handling and analyzing data.

If you’re unfamiliar with how this software works, an Excel tutorial can help you gain a basic understanding. However, if you already know how to navigate Excel, this guide to data analysis using Excel can help you upskill yourself.

What is Data Analysis?

Data analysis is a strategic way of transforming, cleaning, inspecting, and modeling data to extract useful information, draw conclusions, and support decision-making. It involves a variety of techniques and methods for gaining insights from raw data. Data analysis helps to obtain a deeper understanding of patterns, trends, relationships, and characteristics within the dataset.

Data analysis in MS Excel has several steps. They are:

• Data Collection: You can collect data from various sources, which may include databases, files, surveys, or sensors.

• Data Cleaning: You can Prepare the data analysis tool in Excel by identifying and rectifying the errors, handling missing values, and removing duplicates.

• Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA): You can explore the data to understand its characteristics, relationships, and patterns. This involves statistics, visualizations, and other strategies to obtain more insights into the data.

• Data Modeling: You can build mathematical models or statistical algorithms to help analyze the data and make predictions. This could include techniques like regression analysis, machine learning, or time series analysis.

• Interpretation and Communication: By Interpreting the results of the analysis and communicating findings to stakeholders, you can create visualizations and reports. This helps convey insights and support decision-making.
  

How To Analyze Data in Excel

Before we start, I will always recommend getting a professional Data Science certificate to take a proactive step into this career field. You can perform and study data analysis in Excel using several techniques that depend on the type of data and the specific insights you're looking to reveal. Here’s a basic guide I’ve put together to get you started:

Charts

Any set of information graphically represented in Excel is called a chart. Charts are useful for conveying trends, relationships, and trends within datasets in a clearer and more visually attractive format. Excel has several chart types available, or you can use the Excel Recommended Charts option to look at charts specifically made for your data.

Step 1: Select a table. Go to the Insert tab at the top of the ribbon. In the charts group, select any chart. Here, I am showing how to select a 3-D column chart.

Step 2: As it is shown, the MS Excel table has been converted into a 3D column chart

Conditional Formatting

You will observe that the data analysis tool in Excel trends and patterns in your data will be highlighted with the help of conditional formatting. So, if you want to use it, write rules that determine the format of cells depending on their values. If you want to perform data analysis in Excel for Windows, conditional formatting can be applied to a set of cells, an Excel table, and even a PivotTable report.

Step 1: Click Conditional Formatting on the Home tab. You can either choose from the following:

• Click on the color you like from the scale, which represents the intensity of the cell's color. It helps in highlighting the relationship between values in a cell range by aligning them with the top or bottom of the range. This feature is useful for displaying sales distributions between regions.

• Feel free to modify the values in specific cells. Based on your requirements, you must choose either Top/Bottom Rules or highlight cell rules. Try aiming to highlight dates beyond this week, numbers ranging from 50 to 100, or the lowest 10% of scores; opt for Highlight Cells Rules.

• If you wish to highlight the correlation between values within a range of cells, you need to hang over the data bars and click on the preferred fill. This action generates a colored band spanning across the cell. This is ideal for illustrating comparisons like prices or populations among major cities.

Data Analysis in Excel: Step-by-Step Process

To add the data analysis tool in Excel, you will need to enable the "Analysis ToolPak" add-in. So here I am listing down the step-by-step process on how you need to do it:

1. Open Excel.
2. Go to the file menu
3. Click on "Options" (it's generally at the bottom of the list).
4. Select "Add-Ins" from the left-hand menu from the Excel dialog box,
5. Then choose "Excel Add-Ins" and click "Go." from the ‘Manage’ box,
6. Check the "Analysis ToolPak" box and click "OK." from Add-Ins dialog box,

Once you complete these steps, the tool should be available under the "Data" tab in the Excel ribbon. You can then use it for data analysis and statistical tasks like correlation, regression, histograms, and more.

Top 5 Essential Excel Data Analysis Functions

If you are exploring MS Excel, you will gradually discover Excel formulas for data analysis with hundreds of functions. And trying to match the proper formula with the right kind of data analysis is overwhelming.

The most valuable functions don't need to be difficult. By following these, you’ll wonder how you’ve lived without these easy functions that will increase your ability to interpret data.

1. Concatenate

The formula =CONCATENATE is used while performing data analysis in Excel. It is one of the simplest to understand but most powerful. Text, dates, numbers, and other data from numerous cells can be combined into a single cell.

2. Len()

For data analysis in Excel, LEN shows the number of characters in each cell. It’s often used when working with text that has a character limit or when trying to distinguish between product numbers.

Syntax

SYNTAX = LEN (text)

Source: Analytics Vidya

3. Days()

The function ‘DAYS’ for data analysis in Excel, calculates the number of calendar days between two dates.

Syntax:

Syntax=DAYS (end_date, start_date)

4. Networkdays

The function of data analysis using excel automatically excludes weekends, classifying as a Date/Time Function. In accounting and finance, it's used to determine employee benefits, project timelines, or business days needed to resolve customer issues, among other applications.

Syntax:

= NETWORKDAYS (start_date, end_date, [holidays])

5. Sumifs()

The most famous formula for data analysis in Excel is =SUMIFS. Although it may be similar with the =SUM formula, you can use it only if you need to sum data based on numerous criteria.

Syntax:

= SUMIFS (sum_range, range1, criteria1, [range2], [criteria2], …)

6. Averageifs()

The formula AVERAGEIFS enables you to calculate the average depending on one or more criteria

Syntax:

= AVERAGEIFS (avg_rng, range1, criteria1, [range2], [criteria2], …)

7. If ()

The IF function is one of the most common Excel formulas for data analysis used to computerize decision-making in your Excel sheet. You can use IF to conduct a different automation or show a different value based on the results of a logical test (a decision).

Syntax:

= IF (logical_test, [value_if_true], [value_if_false])

Data Analysis Methods in Excel

Let’s explore some methods for conducting data analysis in Excel:

Ranges and Tables

Your data may be in either table or range format. Based on whether it is organized as a range or a table, specific actions can be performed on it. In my opinion, some procedures yield better results when data is structured within tables as opposed to ranges.

Here are some statistical functions exclusively applicable to tables:

• SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, MIN: Understand basic statistical functions to calculate sums, averages, and extremes in your dataset.

• COUNT and COUNTIF: Count the number of cells containing data or meeting specific criteria.

• Statistical Analysis Toolpak: Explore advanced statistical functions by enabling the Analysis Toolpak add-in in Excel.

Sorting and Filtering

You may need to Sort or filter your data to prepare for data analysis or to showcase specific crucial data points. Sort and Filter are some of the easiest Excel formulas for data analysis.

Sorting helps sort data in ascending or descending order in columns, whereas filters are used to present data that meets specified criteria. These filters may include:

• Date Filters
• Number and Text Filters
• Data Form
• Advanced Filter
• Outlining Data
• Remove Duplicates
• Subtotal provides various filtering capabilities.

Understanding Lookup Functions

Excel Lookup Functions help you search through a large amount of data for data values that fit a set of criteria. There are two different types of lookup functions: Hlookup and Vlookup.

As a data analyst, I use both these functions to find a value in a database. retrieve other values that correspond to that value.

Conclusion

Excel is an important tool for data analysis. It provides many features that allow users to analyze and manipulate large amounts of data efficiently.

Speaking of data analysis, consider taking up a professional online data analysis course from upGrad. You will not only learn the basics of this field but also learn Excel for data analysis specifically. They may involve machine learning, statistical modeling and many more.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How to do data analysis in Excel?

For data analysis in Excel, you need to organize your data, utilize Excel functions for calculations, create PivotTables for summarization, apply filters and sorting for data manipulation, visualize data with charts, use advanced analysis techniques if necessary, review and interpret results, document your analysis process, and present findings effectively.

2. What are the data analysis tools in MS Excel?

In MS Excel, data analysis can be performed using several tools like PivotTables, Power Query, Excel functions (e.g., VLOOKUP, SUMIFS), Solver, What-If Analysis, Data Tables, and Excel's charting features.

3. How to do data analysis?

To conduct data analysis, you can start by collecting relevant data, then clean and organize it. Next, incorporate correct statistical or analytical techniques to get insights and draw conclusions. Finally, present your findings clearly and effectively to inform decision-making processes.

4. What is analysis data table Excel?

An Analysis Data Table in Excel is a tool used for sensitivity analysis. You can do so by calculating multiple outcomes depending on other input values.

5. What Data Analysis means?

Data analysis is the process of examining, transforming, and interpreting data to discover useful information, patterns, and insights.

6. Where is Data Analysis tool in Excel?

In Excel, the Data Analysis Toolpak is in the "Data" tab of the ribbon. If it's not visible, you may need to enable it through the Excel options.

7. How to use VLOOKUP in Excel?

For using VLOOKUP you need to write "=VLOOKUP(" in a cell, followed by the search value and table range separated by commas, Followed by that enter the column number,it will indicate "FALSE" for exact match or "TRUE" for approximate match, then close the content and press Enter.

8. How to use Excel step by step?

Open Excel to create or open a workbook, after that enter and format data, perform calculations, insert or delete rows/columns, create charts, save, review, edit, and finally, close Excel.

9. Where do I find data analysis?

You can find data analysis tools in the "Data" tab of Excel.