Data Analysis Essentials Using Excel

Watch this first.  Depending on your background with Excel and data analysis, we'd recommend different strategies for taking this course.  

Dropbox link to course files

Video games anyone? We introduce the data set we'll be working with in this quick introductory example.

In this example, we see that simple built-in EXCEL formulas and functionality can make for quick analysis of numerical data.

We take the sample data a bit farther--how do we calculate sub totals?  We use the conditional functions in EXCEL.

Having new calculations is helpful but sometimes the best way to show case your analysis is through visualization (aka using charts).  We introduce you to two basic charts here.

NOTE: In the video, there is a slight error in the file ("Wii" as a platform category was showing up twice). The files in this lecture have been updated and corrected.

Section overview to go over the topics we'll cover in this section, which includes the Excel user interface, common keyboard shortcuts, basic functionality that all analysts working with Excel should know.

In this lecture, we'll go over the Excel user interface and it's different components to get you familiar with it all before we really start to play with things. 

In this lecture, we explore how to add data to, delete data from, and edit data inside a cell in Excel.

While we will be introducing many more Excel keyboard shortcuts in this course, we'll show you a few of the easier ones in that are frequently used in Excel

In this lecture, we explore some Excel keyboard shortcuts designed to help you navigate through a worksheet more efficiently.

We will look at the use of keyboard shortcuts to selecting cells with EXCEL.

In this lecture, we look at how to insert and delete rows or columns in EXCEL, which you'll be doing quite often conducting data analysis in EXCEL.

When the data inside the cells aren't showing up correctly, chances are the column or row sizes are not the right size. In this lecture, we'll look the useful autofit option in EXCEL. 

Sometimes, you may want to look at multiple places within a dataset that is too far apart for for the entire data set to show on screen.  When this happens, you may want to use the freeze pane or split view options in EXCEL.

There are many things a numbers can represent so when you're dealing with number in your dataset, having the right formatting can help avoid confusion.

The simple cell in EXCEL may appear simple but in fact it has many formatting options that can add visual clarity to your analysis.

Sometimes, not all of the data needs to be shown.  In those situations, grouping and hiding select cells could make an otherwise clunky spreadsheet more manageable.

In this lecture, we walk you through how to add a couple of very useful Excel Add-Ins that are useful for analysis.

To quiz you on what you've learned in this section

Section overview to go over the topics we'll cover in this section, which includes useful math, logical, and finance functions that comes with Excel.  

Doing simple math operations in EXCEL is very easy and straight forward. In this lecture we look at the operations as well as two commonly used built-in functions. 

We looked at the SUM and COUNT functions previously, now we look at their conditional counterparts, SUMIF and COUNTIF functions in EXCEL.

In this lecture, we look at more of EXCEL's built-in math functions: MIN, MAX, and AVERAGE functions.

In this lecture, we introduce to you the logical operators and the logical IF, AND and OR functions in EXCEL.

One of the most basic building blocks to understanding how to write your own formulas for manipulating and analyzing data is cell referencing.  In this lecture we look at how you can anchor cell references in EXCEL.

Without a built in conditional MIN and MAX functions, we look at how using array functions in EXCEL can help us create our own DIY versions of MINIF and MAXIF functions.

The next four lectures are more finance related.

In this lecture, we take start a short digression into the world of finance by exploring the set of internal rate of return (IRR) functions available in EXCEL.  We look at what these functions calculate and each of their limitations when used. 

Continuing our exploration from the finance world, we look at the concept of the Net Present Value (NPV), what it means, how it's calculated, and how to use the NPV function in EXCEL. 

In the world of finance, we often deal with debt, like a mortgage on a loan.  In this lecture, we'l show you how to use EXCEL's built in functions to construction an amortization table.

Whenever you're looking at data with a time component (e.g. sales), you'll likely be looking at growth rates to help understand your data.  One common growth rate metric is known as the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR).  We look at how it's calculated in this lecture. 

As you get more sophisticated with your formula building, it's very easy to make mistakes.  But EXCEL has a very useful tool for auditing your formulas.

In this lecture we look at a keyboard shortcut alternative to the copy and paste functions in EXCEL and not the minor differences in the results.  

Some EXCEL functions are designed to give you useful information, rather than to calculate something.  In this lecture, we look at the very useful IS functions.

When working with numbers, you'll often find yourself wanting to round the results of the values.  In this lecture, we explore how to use the ROUND functions in EXCEL.

Section overview to go over the topics we'll cover in this section, which includes a deep dive in to how you'll be interacting with three very important data formats that you'll encounter when running analysis in EXCEL. 

In this lecture, we look at how EXCEL stores and interprets text, times, and date data in cells. 

Often, you'll be working with text that is inconsistently or improperly cased.  However EXCEL provides ready functions that can help you change the case of text easily.

In this lecture, we'll look at how you can combine strings of text together in EXCEL.

Instead of combining strings, sometimes we may want to cut a substring from an existing string of text.  In this lecture, we look at the various options available in EXCEL for doing this task.

In this lecture, we look at how to use the FIND function for more advanced text search and manipulation in EXCEL.

Continuing our series on dealing with text in EXCEL, we look at how you can search for and extract a specific string inside a longer text. 

In this lecture, we look at EXCEL's very useful feature that allows you to easily split a text into multiple columns using various delimiters.

Often times, date values in datasets could be stored as text values rather than more useful numeric values.  In this lecture, we look at how you can convert text formatted dates into numeric dates.

In this lecture, we look at how to add and subtract date values in EXCEL.

In this lecture, we explore how to leverage date data to compile both monthly and annual totals in EXCEL.

In this lecture, we look at how to conduct a day of the week analysis. 

Often, when you have both date and time data, it is helpful to combine them together. 

In this lecture, we look at why time data is a bit more tricky to deal with than date data and how to add and subtract time values. 

In this lecture, we how we can do an hour of the analysis on time in EXCEL.

Section overview to go over the topics we'll cover in this section, which includes an overview of core statistical concepts, statistical functions in EXCEL, and how to use them. 

In this lecture, we go through a brief overview of the most relevant concepts in statistics for conducting data analysis in EXCEL.

In this lecture, we look at the three most common statistical averages--the mean, median, and mode.

In this lecture, we look at percentiles and percentilerank in EXCEL.

In this lecture, we're going to explore frequency distributions and how to use them in EXCEL.

You can't talk about statistics without understanding standard deviation and variance.  In this lecture, we'll break down these concepts so you'll know exactly what their corresponding functions in EXCEL are doing.

In this lecture, we'll give you a first introductory taste of how to look at trends in datasets in EXCEL.

In this lecture, we go over correlation and how to calculate and interpret it when running analysis of a dataset in EXCEL.

Quick overview of the various data functions and topics to be covered in this section.