EXCEL Guide for Selected Tutorial Questions

Tutorial 1
After you have mastered the techniques to answer Q1 & Q2, you can apply the same for other
questions in Tute 1.

QUESTION 1(a)
Our objective is to graph the total sales (Total) over the period from the quarter 1, 2013 to quarter 4,
2017. What graph is most suitable for time-series data? Answer this question before reading on.
To create a line graph, follow these steps:
1. Select the worksheet: Red Rocks.
2. DRAG the cursor from A2 to A22 to SELECT the Year/Qtr for labelling the X-axis.
3.* Next, PRESS and HOLD Ctrl, and then DRAG the cursor from E2 to E22 to SELECT the Total
sales data. (Now, the two columns of data are highlighted.)
* Alternatively, you just move the cursor to the data area; click Insert and then SELECT 2-D Line. Excel
will graph all variables for you. You simply remove the unwanted graphs.
4. To create a line graph, click on Insert and SELECT 2-D Line (click the icon). To add markers,
move the cursor to the graph, right click on the line and select Format Data Series.
5. To label the axes, left click on the chart. Under the green ‘Chart design’ tab at the top of the
page, select ‘Add Chart Element’.

QUESTION 1(b)
This data is categorical and can be shown as either a Bar or a Pie Chart depending on what we wish
to demonstrate. If we simply wish to compare the relative sales by division then the clearest graph is
a bar graph. If we wish to compare the relative contributions to total sales then we should use a Pie
Chart.
If we wish to construct a pie to compare the performance of the four divisions in quarter 4 of 2017.
1. First, to SELECT the division names for display in the legend, DRAG the cursor horizontally
from A2 to D2.
2. Next, to SELECT the Quarterly Sales data, PRESS and HOLD Ctrl, and then DRAG cursor from
A22 to D22. (Now, the two rows are highlighted.)
3. SELECT Insert and then the Pie button.
4. You can label the pie as appropriate. When labelling there is an option for formatting the
label. You should change the label from actual values to percentages.

QUESTION 2(a) Constructing Histogram using Pivot Table

The Pivot Table is a powerful tool for analysing data (both qualitative and quantitative) that is stored
in an Excel worksheet. In this unit, we will be using the Pivot Table to construct a histogram, explore
relationships between two variables in this and other questions.
1. Creating the Pivot Table.
 Move the cursor to the data area. (In this step you have selected the Table/Range.)
 Click on Insert and SELECT PivotTable.
 SELECT the Existing Worksheet to place the Pivot Table. Place the output in cell H2.
 To construct the Frequency Distribution of Salary, follow these steps:
 Select, Hold and Drag Salary from the field area (top) and drop it to the Row Labels area
(bottom left). (Remember to release the mouse button when reaching the desired drop
location.)
 Select, Hold and Drag Salary from the field area (top) to the Values area (bottom right).
 In Excel the default option is Sum of Salary but we want the Count of Salary. To change Sum
to Count is to move the cursor the Sum of Salary (Cell I2), Right CLICK (or DOUBLE left CLICK)
it to display the Value Field Settings dialog box.
 In the Value Field Settings dialog box, Select Count.

2. Grouping Salary
 Excel uses each of the Salary value in the dataset as a class (!). We need to group Salary into
appropriate classes.
 Move the cursor to one of cells in the Row Labels column (Column H)
 Right Click the mouse to pull down a menu.
 Select Group (somewhere in the middle of the menu).
 To have neat and easy to interpret class boundaries, change to value in the Starting at: area
to 50000.
 Keep the class width (i.e. the value in the By: area) unchanged. (You are encouraged to
change the class width and Starting at value later to explore how these changes will influence
the shape of the histogram at a later time.)
 Click OK. (You have obtained the Frequency Distribution of Salary in tabulated format.)
3. Constructing a graph for the table.
  Move the cursor to any cell in the table to SELECT the content of the Pivot Table.
 Click on Insert and SELECT Column; and choose the first 2-D type.
 Remember to remove the gaps between bars. Move the cursor to one of the bars, Right Click
and Select Format Data Series.

QUESTION 2(b)

You can use the Pivot Table constructed in Q2(a) for part (b). But if you want to keep the histogram
you have constructed, you need to create a new Pivot Table.
Follow the step 1 in Q2(a) to construct a Pivotal Table this time you can use a NEW WORKSHEET or
SELECT another area in the existing worksheet (if using the same worksheet, make sure that you
pivot table does not does not overwrite any existing data or Pivot Tables).
To construct the table, CLICK and DRAG the field items displayed in the Pivot Table Field List window,
to the labelled areas in the worksheet in the same way as before. (Remember to release the mouse
button when reaching the desired drop location.)
 DRAG Rank to the Row Fields area.
 DRAG Years of service to the area labelled Value.
 Now, your worksheet should look like this (right):
As pointed out in Q2(a) Sum is the default option for
quantitative variables. But we don’t want to sum up the
Years of Service, since we are computing the Average.
 Use the same method as in part (a) to change SUM
into Average of Years of Service.
 CLICK OK. The table is completed.
 To create a chart, move the cursor to the table, CLICK Insert to SELECT a suitable graph type.

QUESTION 2 (c)
The technique is very similar to Q2(b). Go back to the Pivot Table for Q2(b).
 Remove Rank in the Row Labels area and drop it back into the Pivot Table Field List.
 Drag School into the Rows box.
 Drag Gender in to the Column Labels area
 DRAG Years of Service and drop it back to the Pivot Table Field List window and replace it with
Salary.
 Remember to change the Sum of Salary to Average. (You can do so by moving the cursor to Sum
of Salary, Right Click and Select Summarize Values By … Average.)

QUESTION 2 (d)
(i) To address this question, we need to construct a pivot like the right:
Average of Salary
We use the pivot table in part (c). Years of service F M
0-9
 Replace Rank with Years of Service in the Row Labels area, using 10-19
the same Click-Hold-Drag technique. You should group the Years 20-29
of Service using appropriate class width. 20-39
40-49
  Change Count of Salary to Average of Salary (if this has not been already done).
(What do you observe?)
(ii) Before you use Excel, what should the table look like? (I will let you do it yourself this time.)
(iii) Before you use Excel, what should the table look like? (I will let you do it yourself this time.)