{"id":6426,"date":"2019-02-28T12:57:23","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T20:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/?p=6426"},"modified":"2023-07-11T02:26:43","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T09:26:43","slug":"excel-functions-for-data-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/data-analytics\/excel-functions-for-data-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Excel Shortcuts to Help You Think Like a Business Analyst"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Learning Excel and utilizing all of its features can seem like a tall order. As a mentor for Springboard’s Business Analytics Course, I’ve seen students get lost and overwhelmed when using the software to tackle a new case study. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to assist students in their data analytics journeys, I\u2019ve compiled a list of useful Excel functions for data analysis that will help learners focus their attention so they can start to think like a business analyst and develop a framework for working with data sets.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This list is by no means comprehensive, but it will help you build a solid foundation for your analytics work. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve downloaded a data set of Starbucks’ drinks nutrition menu from Kaggle to illustrate the topics discussed below.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can download it here and follow along.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Descriptive Statistics: Understanding Your Data<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Descriptive statistics provides the data analyst<\/a> with the tools to develop the most basic understanding of the data set\/sample that they have gathered. An analyst can summarize and examine data from 10,000 miles up as opposed to getting lost in the minutiae. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Descriptive statistics gives analysts the ability to find the central tendency, variability, trends, outliers, or errors in the data that could go unnoticed had they just tried to scroll and read the data in its entirety making the overall data analytics<\/a> process easier and more adaptable<\/span>. When first analyzing a data set, these tools<\/a> provide the essential first steps for understanding the issues present.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Descriptive Statistics Shortcut<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

To access descriptive statistics functions in Excel, <\/span>select any cell in your workbook and enter \u201c=\u201d<\/span><\/span> along with the name of the function you are trying to use. Excel will provide a drop-down selection for the function you’re looking for. Inside the brackets, insert the array of data that the function is analyzing. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Figure 1 – The average function in Excel<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following list presents each descriptive statistic with its associated Excel function, accompanied by the Starbucks data: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mean, Median, Mode, Minimum, Maximum, Range, Count, Standard Deviation, Percentile<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n