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Excel Data Analysis - All Categories
Overview
Data Analysis - Overview
Working with Range Names
Data Analysis is a process of inspecting, cleaning,
transforming and modeling data with the goal of
Tables discovering useful information, suggesting conclusions
and supporting decision-making
Cleaning Data with Text
Functions .

Cleaning Data Contains Date

Values
Types of Data Analysis
Several data analysis techniques exist encompassing
Working with Time Values various domains such as business, science, social
science, etc. with a variety of names. The major data
Conditional Formatting analysis approaches are −

Sorting Data Mining

Business Intelligence
Filtering
Statistical Analysis

Subtotals with Ranges Predictive Analytics

Text Analytics
Quick Analysis

Lookup Functions Data Mining

Data Mining is the analysis of large quantities of data

PivotTables to extract previously unknown, interesting patterns of
data, unusual data and the dependencies. Note that
Data Visualization the goal is the extraction of patterns and knowledge
from large amounts of data and not the extraction of
Data Validation data itself.

Data mining analysis involves computer science

Financial Analysis
methods at the intersection of the artificial intelligence,
machine learning, statistics, and database systems.
Working with Multiple Sheets
The patterns obtained from data mining can be
Formula Auditing considered as a summary of the input data that can be
used in further analysis or to obtain more accurate
Inquire prediction results by a decision support system.

Business Intelligence

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 Business Intelligence techniques and tools are for
Advanced Data Analysis acquisition and transformation of large amounts of
unstructured business data to help identify, develop
and create new strategic business opportunities.
Ad dD t A l i
The goal of business intelligence is to allow easy
interpretation of large volumes of data to identify new
opportunities. It helps in implementing an effective
strategy based on insights that can provide businesses
with a competitive market-advantage and long-term
stability.

Statistical Analysis

Statistics is the study of collection, analysis,

interpretation, presentation, and organization of data.

In data analysis, two main statistical methodologies

are used −

Descriptive statistics − In descriptive

statistics, data from the entire population or a
sample is summarized with numerical
descriptors such as −

Mean, Standard Deviation for Continuous

Data

Frequency, Percentage for Categorical

Data

Inferential statistics − It uses patterns in the

sample data to draw inferences about the
represented population or accounting for
randomness. These inferences can be −

answering yes/no questions about the

data (hypothesis testing)

estimating numerical characteristics of

the data (estimation)

describing associations within the data

(correlation)
modeling relationships within the data
(E.g. regression analysis)

Predictive Analytics

Predictive Analytics use statistical models to analyze

current and historical data for forecasting (predictions)
about future or otherwise unknown events. In
business, predictive analytics is used to identify risks
and opportunities that aid in decision-making.

Text Analytics

Text Analytics, also referred to as Text Mining or as

Text Data Mining is the process of deriving high-quality
information from text. Text mining usually involves the
process of structuring the input text, deriving patterns
within the structured data using means such as
statistical pattern learning, and finally evaluation and
interpretation of the output.

Data Analysis Process

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 Data Analysis is defined by the statistician John Tukey
in 1961 as "Procedures for analyzing data, techniques
for interpreting the results of such procedures, ways of
planning the gathering of data to make its analysis
easier, more precise or more accurate, and all the
machinery and results of (mathematical) statistics
which apply to analyzing data.”

Thus, data analysis is a process for obtaining large,

unstructured data from various sources and converting
it into information that is useful for −

Answering questions
Test hypotheses

Decision-making
Disproving theories

Data Analysis with Excel

Microsoft Excel provides several means and ways to
analyze and interpret data. The data can be from
various sources. The data can be converted and
formatted in several ways. It can be analyzed with the
relevant Excel commands, functions and tools -
encompassing Conditional Formatting, Ranges, Tables,
Text functions, Date functions, Time functions,
Financial functions, Subtotals, Quick Analysis, Formula
Auditing, Inquire Tool, What-if Analysis, Solvers, Data
Model, PowerPivot, PowerView, PowerMap, etc.

You will be learning these data analysis techniques with

Excel as part of two parts −

Data Analysis with Excel and

Advanced Data Analysis with Excel

Data Analysis - Process

Data Analysis is a process of collecting, transforming,
cleaning, and modeling data with the goal of
discovering the required information. The results so
obtained are communicated, suggesting conclusions,
and supporting decision-making. Data visualization is
at times used to portray the data for the ease of
discovering the useful patterns in the data. The terms
Data Modeling and Data Analysis mean the same.

Data Analysis Process consists of the following phases

that are iterative in nature −

Data Requirements Specification

Data Collection
Data Processing
Data Cleaning

Data Analysis
Communication

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 Data Requirements Specification
The data required for analysis is based on a question
or an experiment. Based on the requirements of those
directing the analysis, the data necessary as inputs to
the analysis is identified (e.g., Population of people).
Specific variables regarding a population (e.g., Age and
Income) may be specified and obtained. Data may be
numerical or categorical.

Data Collection
Data Collection is the process of gathering information
on targeted variables identified as data requirements.
The emphasis is on ensuring accurate and honest
collection of data. Data Collection ensures that data
gathered is accurate such that the related decisions are
valid. Data Collection provides both a baseline to
measure and a target to improve.

Data is collected from various sources ranging from

organizational databases to the information in web
pages. The data thus obtained, may not be structured
and may contain irrelevant information. Hence, the
collected data is required to be subjected to Data
Processing and Data Cleaning.

Data Processing
The data that is collected must be processed or
organized for analysis. This includes structuring the
data as required for the relevant Analysis Tools. For
example, the data might have to be placed into rows
and columns in a table within a Spreadsheet or
Statistical Application. A Data Model might have to be
created.

Data Cleaning
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 The processed and organized data may be incomplete,
contain duplicates, or contain errors. Data Cleaning is
the process of preventing and correcting these errors.
There are several types of Data Cleaning that depend
on the type of data. For example, while cleaning the
financial data, certain totals might be compared
against reliable published numbers or defined
thresholds. Likewise, quantitative data methods can be
used for outlier detection that would be subsequently
excluded in analysis.

Data Analysis
Data that is processed, organized and cleaned would
be ready for the analysis. Various data analysis
techniques are available to understand, interpret, and
derive conclusions based on the requirements. Data
Visualization may also be used to examine the data in
graphical format, to obtain additional insight regarding
the messages within the data.

Statistical Data Models such as Correlation, Regression

Analysis can be used to identify the relations among
the data variables. These models that are descriptive
of the data are helpful in simplifying analysis and
communicate results.

The process might require additional Data Cleaning or

additional Data Collection, and hence these activities
are iterative in nature.

Communication
The results of the data analysis are to be reported in a
format as required by the users to support their
decisions and further action. The feedback from the
users might result in additional analysis.

The data analysts can choose data visualization

techniques, such as tables and charts, which help in
communicating the message clearly and efficiently to
the users. The analysis tools provide facility to
highlight the required information with color codes and
formatting in tables and charts.

Excel Data Analysis - Overview

Excel provide commands, functions and tools that
make your data analysis tasks easy. You can avoid
many time consuming and/or complex calculations
using Excel. In this tutorial, you will get a head start
on how you can perform data analysis with Excel. You
will understand with relevant examples, step by step
usage of Excel commands and screen shots at every
step.

Ranges and Tables

The data that you have can be in a range or in a table.
Certain operations on data can be performed whether
the data is in a range or in a table.

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 However, there are certain operations that are more
effective when data is in tables rather than in ranges.
There are also operations that are exclusively for
tables.

You will understand the ways of analyzing data in

ranges and tables as well. You will understand how to
name ranges, use the names and manage the names.
The same would apply for names in the tables.

Data Cleaning – Text Functions, Dates

and Times
You need to clean the data obtained from various
sources and structure it before proceeding to data
analysis. You will learn how you can clean the data.

With Text Functions

Containing Date Values

Containing Time Values

Conditional Formatting
Excel provides you conditional formatting commands
that allow you to color the cells or font, have symbols
next to values in the cells based on predefined criteria.
This helps one in visualizing the prominent values. You
will understand the various commands for conditionally
formatting the cells.

Sorting and Filtering

During the preparation of data analysis and/or to
display certain important data, you might have to sort
and/or filter your data. You can do the same with the
easy to use sorting and filtering options that you have
in Excel.

Subtotals with Ranges

As you are aware, PivotTable is normally used to
summarize data. However, Subtotals with Ranges is
another feature provided by Excel that will allow you to
group / ungroup data and summarize the data present
in ranges with easy steps.

Quick Analysis
With Quick Analysis tool in Excel, you can quickly
perform various data analysis tasks and make quick
visualizations of the results.

Understanding Lookup Functions

Excel Lookup Functions enable you to find the data
values that match a defined criteria from a huge
amount of data.

PivotTables
With PivotTables you can summarize the data, prepare
reports dynamically by changing the contents of the

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 PivotTable.

Data Visualization
You will learn several Data Visualization techniques
using Excel Charts. You will also learn how to create
Band Chart, Thermometer Chart, Gantt chart, Waterfall
Chart, Sparklines and PivotCharts.

Data Validation
It might be required that only valid values be entered
into certain cells. Otherwise, they may lead to incorrect
calculations. With data validation commands, you can
easily set up data validation values for a cell, an input
message prompting the user on what is expected to be
entered in the cell, validate the values entered with the
defined criteria and display an error message in case of
incorrect entries.

Financial Analysis
Excel provides you several financial functions.
However, for commonly occurring problems that
require financial analysis, you can learn how to use a
combination of these functions.

Working with Multiple Worksheets

You might have to perform several identical
calculations in more than one worksheet. Instead of
repeating these calculations in each worksheet, you
can do it one worksheet and have it appear in the
other selected worksheets as well. You can also
summarize the data from the various worksheets into a
report worksheet.

Formula Auditing
When you use formulas, you might want to check
whether the formulas are working as expected. In
Excel, Formula Auditing commands help you in tracing
the precedent and dependent values and error
checking.

Inquire
Excel also provides Inquire add-in that enables you
compare two workbooks to identify changes, create
interactive reports, and view the relationships among
workbooks, worksheets, and cells. You can also clean
the excessive formatting in a worksheet that makes
Excel slow or makes the file size huge.

Working with Range Names

While doing Data Analysis, referring to various data will
be more meaningful and easy if the reference is by
Names rather than cell references – either a single cell
or a range of cells. For example, if you are calculating
Net Present Value based on a Discount Rate and a
series of Cash Flows, the formula

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 Net_Present_Value = NPV (Discount_Rate,
Cash_Flows)

is more meaningful than

C10 = NPV (C2, C6:C8)

With Excel, you can create and use meaningful names

to various parts of your data. The advantages of using
range names include −

A meaningful Range name (such as Cash_Flows)

is much easier to remember than a Range
address (such as C6:C8).

Entering a name is less error prone than

entering a cell or range address.

If you type a name incorrectly in a formula,

Excel will display a #NAME? error.

You can quickly move to areas of your

worksheet by using the defined names.
With Names, your formulas will be more
understandable and easier to use. For example,
a formula Net_Income = Gross_Income –
Deductions is more intuitive than C40 = C20 –
B18.

Creating formulas with range names is easier

than with cell or range addresses. You can copy
a cell or range name into a formula by using
formula Autocomplete.

In this chapter, you will learn −

Syntax rules for names.

Creating names for cell references.

Creating names for constants.

Managing the names.

Scope of your defined names.

Editing names.

Filtering names.
Deleting names.

Applying names.

Using names in a formula.

Viewing names in a workbook.

Using paste names and paste list.

Using names for range intersections.

Copying formulas with names.

Copying Name using Formula

Autocomplete
Type the first letter of the name in the formula. A drop-
down box appears with function names and range
names. Select the required name. It is copied into your
formula.

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 Range Name Syntax Rules
Excel has the following syntax rules for names −

You can use any combination of letters,

numbers and the symbols - underscores,
backslashes, and periods. Other symbols are
not allowed.
A name can begin with a character, underscore
or backslash.
A name cannot begin with a number (example -
1stQuarter) or resemble a cell address (example
- QTR1).

If you prefer to use such names, precede the

name with an underscore or a backslash
(example - \1stQuarter, _QTR1).
Names cannot contain spaces. If you want to
distinguish two words in a name, you can use
underscore (example- Cash_Flows instead of
Cash Flows)
Your defined names should not clash with
Excel’s internally defined names, such as
Print_Area, Print_Titles, Consolidate_Area,
and Sheet_Title. If you define the same
names, they will override the Excel’s internal
names and you will not get any error message.
However, it is advised not to do so.

Keep the names short but understandable,

though you can use up to 255 characters

Creating Range Names

You can create Range Names in two ways −

Using the Name box.

Using the New Name dialog box.

Using the Selection dialog box.

Create a Range Name using the Name Box

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 To create a Range name, using the Name box that is
to the left of formula bar is the fastest way. Follow the
steps given below −

Step 1 − Select the range for which you want to define

a Name.

Step 2 − Click on the Name box.

Step 3 − Type the name and press Enter to create the

Name.

Create a Range Name using the New Name

dialog box

You can also create Range Names using the New Name
dialog box from Formulas tab.

Step 1 − Select the range for which you want to define

a name.

Step 2 − Click the Formulas tab.

Step 3 − Click Define Name in the Defined Names

group. The New Name dialog box appears.

Step 4 − Type the name in the box next to Name

Step 5 − Check that the range that is selected and

displayed in the Refers box is correct. Click OK.

Create a Range Name using the Create

Names from Selection dialog box

You can also create Range names using the Create

Names from the Selection dialog box from Formulas
tab, when you have Text values that are adjacent to
your range.

Step 1 − Select the range for which you want to define

a name along with the row / column that contains the
name.

Step 2 − Click the Formulas tab.

Step 3 − Click Create from Selection in the Defined

Names group. The Create Names from Selection
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 dialog box appears.

Step 4 − Select top row as the Text appears in the top

row of the selection.

Step 5 − Check the range that got selected and

displayed in the box next to Refers to be correct. Click
OK.

Now, you can find the largest value in the range with
=Sum(Student Name), as shown below −

You can create names with multiple selection also. In

the example given below, you can name the row of
marks of each student with the student’s name.

Now, you can find the total marks for each student
with =Sum (student name), as shown below.

Creating Names for Constants

Suppose you have a constant that will be used
throughout your workbook. You can assign a name to it
directly, without placing it in a cell.

In the example below, Savings Bank Interest Rate is

set to 5%.

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 Click Define Name.
In the New Name dialog box, type
Savings_Bank_Interest_Rate in the Name box.

In Scope, select Workbook.

In Refers to box, clear the contents and type
5%.
Click OK.

The Name Savings_Bank_Interest_Rate is set to a

constant 5%. You can verify this in Name Manager. You
can see that the value is set to 0.05 and in the Refers
to =0.05 is placed.

Managing Names
An Excel Workbook can have any number of named
cells and ranges. You can manage these names with
the Name Manager.

Click the Formulas tab.

Click Name Manager in the Defined Names

group. The Name Manager dialog box appears.
All the names defined in the current workbook
are displayed.

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 The List of Names are displayed with the defined
Values, Cell Reference (including Sheet Name),
Scope and Comment.

The Name Manager has the options to −

Define a New Name with the New Button.

Edit a Defined Name.

Delete a Defined Name.
Filter the Defined Names by Category.

Modify the Range of a Defined Name that it

Refers to.

Scope of a Name
The Scope of a name by default is the workbook. You
can find the Scope of a defined names from the list of
names under the Scope column in the Name
Manager.

You can define the Scope of a New Name when you

define the name using New Name dialog box. For
example, you are defining the name Interest_Rate.
Then you can see that the Scope of the New Name
Interest_Rate is the Workbook.

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 Suppose you want the Scope of this interest rate
restricted to this Worksheet only.

Step 1 − Click the down-arrow in the Scope Box. The

available Scope options appear in the drop-down list.

The Scope options include Workbook, and the sheet

names in the workbook.

Step 2 − Click the current worksheet name, in this

case NPV and click OK. You can define / find the sheet
name in the worksheet tab.

Step 3 − To verify that Scope is worksheet, click

Name Manager. In the Scope column, you will find
NPV for Interest_Rate. This means you can use the
Name Interest_Rate only in the Worksheet NPV, but
not in the other Worksheets.

Note − Once you define the Scope of a Name, it

cannot be modified later.

Deleting Names with Error Values

Sometimes, it may so happen that Name definition
may have errors for various reasons. You can delete

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 such names as follows −

Step 1 − Click Filter in the Name Manager dialog

box.

The following filtering options appear −

Clear Filter
Names Scoped to Worksheet
Names Scoped to Workbook

Names with Errors

Names without Errors
Defined Names

Table Names

You can apply Filter to the defined Names by

selecting one or more of these options.

Step 2 − Select Names with Errors. Names that

contain error values will be displayed.

Step 3 − From the obtained list of Names, select the

ones you want to delete and click Delete.

You will get a message, confirming delete. Click OK.

Editing Names
You can use the Edit option in the Name Manager
dialog box to −

Change the Name.

Modify the Refers to range
Edit the Comment in a Name.

Change the Name

Step 1 − Click the cell containing the function Large.

You can see, two more values are added in the array,
but are not included in the function as they are not
part of Array1.

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 Step 2 − Click the Name you want to edit in the
Name Manager dialog box. In this case, Array1.

Step 3 − Click Edit. The Edit Name dialog box

appears.

Step 4 − Change the Name by typing the new name

that you want in the Name Box.

Step 5 − Click the Range button to the right of

Refers to Box and include the new cell references.

Step 6 − Add a Comment (Optional)

Notice that Scope is deactive and hence cannot be

changed.

Click OK. You will observe the changes made.

Applying Names
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 Consider the following example −

As you observe, names are not defined and used in

PMT function. If you place this function somewhere
else in the worksheet, you also need to remember
where exactly the parameter values are. You know that
using names is a better option.

In this case, the function is already defined with cell

references that do not have names. You can still define
names and apply them.

Step 1 − Using Create from Selection, define the

names.

Step 2 − Select the cell containing the formula. Click

next to Define Name in the Defined Names group

on the Formulas tab. From the drop-down list, click
Apply Names.

Step 3 − The Apply Names dialog box appears.

Select the Names that you want to Apply and click
OK.

The selected names will be applied to the selected

cells.

You can also Apply Names to an entire worksheet, by

selecting the worksheet and repeating the above steps.

Using Names in a Formula

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 You can use a Name in a Formula in the following
ways −

Typing the Name if you remember it, or

Typing first one or two letters and using the

Excel Formula Autocomplete feature.
Clicking Use in Formula in the Defined Names
group on the Formulas tab.

Select the required Name from the drop-

down list of defined names.
Double-click on that name.

Using the Paste Name dialog box.

Select the Paste Names option from the

drop-down list of defined names. The
Paste Name dialog box appears.
Select the Name in the Paste Names
dialog box and double-click it.

Viewing Names in a Workbook

You can get all the Names in your workbook along
with their References and Save them or Print them.

Click an empty Cell where you want to copy the

Names in your workbook.

Click Use in Formula in the Defined Names

group.
Click Paste Names from the drop-down list.

Click Paste List in the Paste Name dialog box

that appears.

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 The list of names and their corresponding references
are copied at the specified location on your worksheet
as shown in the screen shot given below −

Using Names for Range Intersections

Range Intersections are those individual cells that
have two Ranges in common.

For example, in the data given below, the Range B6:F6

and the Range C3:C8 have Cell C6 in common, which
actually represents the marks scored by the student
Kodeda, Adam in Exam 1.

You can make this more meaningful with the Range

Names.

Create Names with Create from Selection for

both Students and Exams.
Your Names will look as follows −

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 Type =Kodeda_Adam Exam_1 in B11.

Here, you are using the Range Intersection operation,

space between the two ranges.

This will display marks of Kodeda, Adam in Exam 1,

that are given in Cell C6.

Copying Formulas with Names

You can copy a formula with names by Copyand Paste
within the same worksheet.

You can also copy a formula with names to a different

worksheet by copy and paste, provided all the names
in the formula have workbook as Scope. Otherwise,
you will get a #VALUE error.

Excel Data Analysis - Tables

A Table is a rectangular range of structured data. The
key features are −

Each row in the table corresponds to a single

record of the data. Example - Employee
information.
Each column contains a specific piece of
information. Exmaple - The columns can contain
data such as name, employee number, hire
date, salary, department, etc.
The top row describes the information contained
in each column and is referred to as header row.

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 Each entry in the top row is referred to as
column header.

You can create and use an Excel table to manage and

analyze data easily. Further, with Excel Tables you get
built-in Filtering, Sorting, and Row Shading that ease
your reporting activities.

Further, Excel responds to the actions performed on a

table intelligently. For example, you have a formula in
a column or you have created a chart based on the
data in the table. When you add more data to the table
(i.e., more rows), Excel extends the formula to the new
data and the chart expands automatically.

Difference between Tables and

Ranges
Following are the differences between a table and
range −

A table is a more structured way of working with

data than a range.
You can convert a range into a table and Excel
automatically provides −

a Table Name
Column Header Names

Formatting to the Data (Cell Color and

Font Color) for better Visualization

Tables provide additional features that are not available

for ranges. These are −

Excel provides table tools in the ribbon ranging

from properties to styles.
Excel automatically provides a Filter button in
each column header to sort the data or filter the
table such that only rows that meet your
defined criteria are displayed.
If you have multiple rows in a table, and you
scroll down the sheet so that the header row
disappears, the column letters in the worksheet
are replaced by the table headers.
When you place a formula in any cell in a
column of the table, it gets propagated to all the
cells in that column.
You can use table name and column header
names in the formulas, without having to use
cell references or creating range names.
You can extend the table size by adding more
rows or more columns by clicking and dragging

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 the small triangular control at the lower-right
corner of the lower-right cell.
You can create and use slicers for a table for
filtering data.

You will learn about all these Features in this Chapter.

Create Table
To create a table from the data you have on the
worksheet, follow the given steps −

Step 1 − Select the Range of Cells that you want to

include in the Table. Cells can contain data or can be
empty. The following Range has 290 rows of employee
data. The top row of the data has headers.

Step 2 − Under the Insert tab, in the Tables group,

click Tables. The Create Table dialog box appears.
Check that the data range selected in the Where is
the data for your table? Box is correct.

Step 3 − Check the My table has headers box if the

top row of the selected Range contains data that you
want to use as the Table Headers.

Note − If you do not check this box, your table will

have Headers – Column1, Column2, …

Step 4 − Click OK.

Range is converted to Table with the default Style.

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 Step 5 − You can also convert a range to a table by
clicking anywhere on the range and pressing Ctrl+T. A
Create Table dialog box appears and then you can
repeat the steps as given above.

Table Name
Excel assigns a name to every table that is created.

Step 1 − To look at the name of the table you just

created, click table, click on table tools – design tab
on the Ribbon.

Step 2 − In the Properties group, in the Table

Name box, your Table Name will be displayed.

Step 3 − You can edit this Table Name to make it more

meaningful to your data.

Step 4 − Click the Table Name box. Clear the Name

and type Emp_Data.

Note − The syntax rules of range names are applicable

to table names.

Managing Names in a Table

You can manage table names just similar to how you
manage range names with Name Manager.

Click the Table.

Click Name Manager in the Defined Names

group on Formulas tab.

The Name Manager dialog box appears and you can

find the Table Names in your workbook.

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 You can Edit a Table Name or add a comment with
New option in the Name Manager dialog box.
However, you cannot change the range in Refers to.

You can Create Names with column headers to use

them in formulas, charts, etc.

Click the Column Header EmployeeID in the

Table.
Click Name Manager.
Click New in the Name Manager dialog box.

The New Name dialog box appears.

In the Name box, you can find the Column Header, and
in the Refers to box,you will find
Emp_Data[[#Headers],[EmployeeID]].

As you observe, this is a quick way of defining Names

in a Table.

Table Headers replacing Column

Letters
When you are working with more number of rows of
data in a table, you may have to scroll down to look at
the data in those rows.

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 However, while doing so, you also require the table
headers to identify which value belongs to which
column. Excel automatically provides a smooth way of
doing this. As you scroll down your data, the column
letters of the worksheet themselves get converted to
table headers.

In the worksheet given below, the column letters are

appearing as they are and the table headers are in row
2. 21 rows of 290 rows of data are visible.

Scroll down to see the table rows 25 – 35. The table

headers will replace the column letters for the table
columns. Other column letters remain as they are.

Propagation of a Formula in a Table

In the table given below, suppose you want to include
the age of each employee.

Step 1 − Insert a column to the right of the column

Birthdate. Type Age in the Column Header.

Step 2 − In any of the Cells in that empty column,

type the Formula, =DAYS ([@BirthDate], TODAY ())
and Press Enter.

The formula propagates automatically to the other cells

in that column of the table.

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 Resize Table
You can resize a table to add or remove rows/columns.

Consider the following table Student_Marks that

contains Total Marks for Batches 1 - 15.

Suppose you want to add three more batches 16 – 18

and a column containing pass percentage.

Click the table.

Drag the blue-color control at the lower-right,
downwards to include three more rows in the
table.

Again drag the blue-color control at the lower-

right, sideways to include one more column in
the table.

Your table looks as follows. You can also check the

range included in the table in the Name Manager dialog
box −

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 Remove Duplicates
When you gather data from different sources, you
probably can have duplicate values. You need to
remove the duplicate values before going further with
analysis.

Look at the following data where you have information

about various products of various brands. Suppose,
you want to remove duplicates from this data.

Click the table.

On the DESIGN tab, click Remove Duplicates
in the Tools group on the Ribbon. The Remove
Duplicates dialog box appears.

The column headers appear under columns in the

Remove Duplicates dialog box.

Check the column headers depending on which

column you want to remove the duplicates and
click OK.

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 You will get a message on how many rows with
duplicate values are removed and how many unique
values remain. The cleaned data will be displayed in
the table.

You can also remove duplicates with Remove

Duplicates in the Data Tools group under DATA tab
on the Ribbon.

Convert to Range
You can convert a table to a Range.

Click the table.

Click Convert to Range in the Tools group,
under the Design tab on the Ribbon.

You will get a message asking you if you want to

convert the table to a Range. After you confirm with
Yes, the table will be converted to Range.

Table Style Options

You have several options of Table Styles to choose.
These options can be used if you need to highlight a
Row / Column.

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 You can check / uncheck these boxes to see how your
table looks. Finally, you can decide on what options
suit your data.

It is advised that the Table Style Options be used

only to project important information in your data
rather than making it colorful, which is not needed in
data analysis.

Table Styles
You have several table styles to choose from. These
styles can be used depending on what color and
pattern you want to display your data in the table.

Move your mouse on these styles to have a preview of

your table with the styles. Finally, you can decide on
what style suit your data.

It is advised that the Table Styles be used only to

project important information in your data in a
presentable way rather than making it colorful, which
is not needed in data analysis.

Slicers for Tables

If you are using Excel 2013 or Excel 2016, you can use
Slicers for filtering data in your table.

For details on how to use Slicers for Tables, refer the

chapter on Filtering in this tutorial.

Cleaning Data with Text

Functions
The data that you obtain from different sources many
not be in a form ready for analysis. In this chapter, you
will understand how to prepare your data that is in the
form of text for analysis.

Initially, you need to clean the data. Data cleaning

includes removing unwanted characters from text.
Next, you need to structure the data in the form you
require for further analysis. You can do the same by −

Finding required text patterns with the text

functions.

Extracting data values from text.

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 Formatting data with text functions.
Executing data operations with the text
functions.

Removing Unwanted Characters from

Text
When you import data from another application, it can
have nonprintable characters and/or excess spaces.
The excess spaces can be −

leading spaces, and/or

extra spaces between words.

If you sort or analyze such data, you will get erroneous

results.

Consider the following example −

This is the raw data that you have obtained on product

information containing the Product ID, Product
description and the price. The character “|” separates
the field in each row.

When you import this data into Excel worksheet, it

looks as follows −

As you observe, the entire data is in a single column.

You need to structure this data to perform data
analysis. However, initially you need to clean the data.

You need to remove any nonprintable characters and

excess spaces that might be present in the data. You
can use the CLEAN function and TRIM function for this
purpose.

S.No. Function & Description

CLEAN
1. Removes all nonprintable characters from
text

TRIM
2.
Removes spaces from text

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 Select the Cells C3 – C11.
Type =TRIM (CLEAN (B3)) and then press CTRL
+ Enter.

The formula is filled in the cells C3 – C11.

The result will be as shown below −

Finding required Text Patterns with the Text

Functions

To structure your data, you might have to do certain

Text Pattern matching based on which you can extract
the Data Values. Some of the Text Functions that are
useful for this purpose are −

S.No. Function & Description

EXACT
1.
Checks to see if two text values are identical

FIND
2. Finds one text value within another (case-
sensitive)

SEARCH
3. Finds one text value within another (not
case-sensitive)

Extracting Data Values from Text

You need to extract the required data from text in
order to structure the same. In the above example,
say, you need to place the data in three columns –
ProductID, Product_Description and Price.

You can extract data in one of the following ways −

Extracting Data Values with Convert Text to

Columns Wizard
Extracting Data Values with Text Functions

Extracting Data Values with Flash Fill

Extracting Data Values with Convert Text to

Columns Wizard

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 You can use the Convert Text to Columns Wizard to
extract Data Values into Excel columns if your fields
are −

Delimited by a character, or
Aligned in columns with spaces between each
field.

In the above example, the fields are delimited by the

character “|”. Hence, you can use the Convert Text to
Columns wizard.

Select the data.

Copy and paste values in the same place.
Otherwise, Convert Text to Columns takes
the functions rather than the data itself as the
input.

Select the data.

Click on Text to Columns in the Data Tools
group under Data Tab on the Ribbon.

Step 1 − Convert Text to Columns Wizard - Step 1 of 3

appears.

Select Delimited.
Click Next.

Step 2 − Convert Text to Columns Wizard - Step 2 of 3

appears.

Under Delimiters, select Other.

In the box next to Other, type the character |

Click Next.

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 Step 3 − Convert Text to Columns Wizard - Step 3 of 3
appears.

In this screen, you can select each column of your data

in the wizard and set the format for that column.

For Destination, select the cell D3.

You can click Advanced, and set Decimal
Separator and Thousands Separator in the
Advanced Text Import Settings dialog box
that appears.
Click Finish.

Your data, which is converted to columns appears in

the three Columns – D, E and F.

Name the Column headers as ProductID,

Product_Description and Price.

Extracting Data Values with Text Functions

Suppose the fields in your data neither are delimited

by a character nor are aligned in columns with spaces
between each field, you can use text functions to
extract data values. Even in the case the fields are
delimited, you can still use text functions to extract
data.

Some of the text functions that are useful for this

purpose are −

S.No. Function & Description

1. LEFT

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 Returns the leftmost characters from a text
value

RIGHT
2. Returns the rightmost characters from a text
value

MID
Returns a specific number of characters from
3.
a text string starting at the position you
specify

LEN
4. Returns the number of characters in a text
string

You can also combine two or more of these text

functions as per the data you have at hand, to extract
the required data values. For example, using a
combination of LEFT, RIGHT and VALUE functions or
using a combination of FIND, LEFT, LEN and MID
functions.

In the above example,

All the characters left to the first | give the

name ProductID.
All the characters right to the second | give the
name Price.
All the characters that lie between the first |
and second | give the name
Product_Description.
Each | has a space before and after.

Observing this information, you can extract the data

values with the following steps −

Find the Position of First | - First | Position

You can use FIND function

Find the Position of Second | - Second |

Position

You can use FIND function again

Beginning to (First | Position – 2) Characters

of the Text give ProductID

You can use LEFT Function

(First | Position + 2) to (Second | Position -

2) Characters of the Text give
Product_Description

You can use MID Function

(Second | Position + 2) to End Characters of

the Text give Price

You can use RIGHT Function

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 The result will be as shown below −

You can observe that the values in the price column

are text values. To perform calculations on these
values, you have to format the corresponding cells. You
can look at the section given below to understand
formatting text.

Extracting Data Values with Flash Fill

Using Excel Flash Fill is another way to extract data

values from text. However, this works only when Excel
is able to find a pattern in the data.

Step 1 − Create three columns for ProductID,

Product_Description and Price next to the data.

Step 2 − Copy and paste the values for C3, D3 and E3

from B3.

Step 3 − Select cell C3 and click Flash Fill in the

Data Tools group on the Data tab. All the values for
ProductID get filled.

Step 4 − Repeat the above given steps for

Product_Description and Price. The data is filled.

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 Formatting Data with Text Functions
Excel has several built-in text functions that you can
use for formatting data containing text. These include
−

Functions that format the Text as per your need

−

S.No. Function & Description

LOWER
1.
Converts text to lowercase

S.No. Function & Description

UPPER
1.
Converts text to uppercase

PROPER
2. Capitalizes the first letter in each word of a
text value

Functions that convert and/or format the

Numbers as Text −

S.No. Function & Description

DOLLAR
1. Converts a number to text, using the $
(dollar) currency format

FIXED
2. Formats a number as text with a fixed
number of decimals

TEXT
3.
Formats a number and converts it to text

Functions that convert the Text to Numbers −

S.No. Function & Description

VALUE
1.
Converts a text argument to a number

Executing Data Operations with the Text

Functions

You might have to perform certain Text Operations on

your Data. For example, if Login-IDs for the Employees
are changed to a New Format in an Organization,
based on the Format Change, Text Replacements might
have to be done.

Following Text Functions help you in performing Text

Operations on your data containing Text −

S.No. Function & Description

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 REPLACE
1.
Replaces characters within text

SUBSTITUTE
2. Substitutes new text for old text in a text
string

CONCATENATE
3.
Joins several text items into one text item

CONCAT
Combines the text from multiple ranges
4.
and/or strings, but it does not provide the
delimiter or IgnoreEmpty arguments.

TEXTJOIN
Combines the text from multiple ranges
and/or strings, and includes a delimiter you
5. specify between each text value that will be
combined. If the delimiter is an empty text
string, this function will effectively
concatenate the ranges.

REPT
6.
Repeats text a given number of times

Cleaning Data Containing Date

Values
The data that you obtain from different sources might
contain date values. In this chapter, you will
understand how to prepare your data that contains
data values for analysis.

You will learn about −

Date Formats

Date in Serial Format

Date in different Month-Day-Year Formats

Converting Dates in Serial Format to Month-

Day-Year Format
Converting Dates in Month-Day-Year Format to
Serial Format
Obtaining Today's Date
Finding a Workday after specified Days
Customizing the Definition of a Weekend
Number of Workdays between two given Dates

Extracting Year, Month, Day from Date

Extracting Day of the Week from Date
Obtaining Date from Year, Month and Day
Calculating Number of Years, Months and Days
between two Dates

Date Formats
Excel supports Date values in two ways −

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 Serial Format
In different Year-Month-Day Formats

You can convert −

A Date in Serial Format to a Date in Year-

Month-Day Format
A Date in Year-Month-Day Format to a Date in
Serial Format

Date in Serial Format

A Date in serial format is a positive integer that

represents the number of days between the given date
and January 1, 1900. Both the current Date and
January 1, 1900 are included in the count. For
example, 42354 is a Date that represents 12/16/2015.

Date in Month-Day-Year Formats

Excel supports different Date Formats based on the

Locale (Location) you choose. Hence, you need to first
determine the compatibility of your Date formats and
the Data Analysis at hand. Note that certain Date
formats are prefixed with *(asterisk) −

Date formats that begin with *(asterisk)

respond to changes in regional date and time
settings that are specified for the operating
system
Date formats without an *(asterisk) are not
affected by operating system settings

For understanding purpose, you can assume United

States as the Locale. You find the following Date
formats to choose for the Date - 8th June, 2016 −

*6/8/2016 (affected by operating system

settings)

*Wednesday, June 8, 2016 (affected by

operating system settings)
6/8

6/8/16
06/08/16
8-Jun
8-Jun-16
08-Jun-16
Jun-16
June-16

J
J-16
6/8/2016
8-Jun-2016

If you enter only two digits to represent a year and if −

The digits are 30 or higher, Excel assumes the

digits represent years in the twentieth century.

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 The digits are lower than 30, Excel assumes the
digits represent years in the twenty-first
century.

For example, 1/1/29 is treated as January 1, 2029 and

1/1/30 is treated as January 1, 1930.

Converting Dates in Serial Format to

Month-Day-Year Format
To convert dates from serial format to Month-Day-Year
format, follow the steps given below −

Click the Number tab in the Format Cells

dialog box.
Click Date under Category.
Select Locale. The available Date formats will
be displayed as a list under Type.
Click on a Format under Type to look at the
preview in the box adjacent to Sample.

After choosing the Format, click OK.

Converting Dates in Month-Day-Year

Format to Serial Format
You can convert dates in Month-Day-Year format to
Serial format in two ways −

Using Format Cells dialog box

Using Excel DATEVALUE function

Using Format Cells dialog box

Click the Number tab in the Format Cells

dialog box.
Click General under Category.

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 Using Excel DATEVALUE Function

You can use Excel DATEVALUE function to convert a

Date to Serial Number format. You need to enclose
the Date argument in “”. For example,

=DATEVALUE ("6/8/2016") results in

42529

Obtaining Today's Date

If you need to perform calculations based on today’s
date, simply use the Excel function TODAY (). The
result reflects the date when it is used.

The following screenshot of TODAY () function usage

has been taken on 16th May, 2016 −

Finding a Workday after Specified

Days
You might have to perform certain calculations based
on your workdays.

Workdays exclude weekend days and any holidays.

This means if you can define your weekend and
holidays, whatever calculations you do will be based on
workdays. For example, you can calculate invoice due
dates, expected delivery times, the next meeting date,
etc.

You can use Excel WORKDAY and WORKDAY.INTL

functions for such operations.

S.No. Function & Description

WORKDAY
1. Returns the serial number of the date before
or after a specified number of workdays

2. WORKDAY.INTL
Returns the serial number of the date before
or after a specified number of workdays

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 using parameters to indicate which and how
many days are weekend days

For example, you can specify the 15th working day

from today (the screenshot below is taken on 16th May
2016) using the Functions TODAY and WORKDAY.

Suppose 25th May 2016 and 1st June 2016 are

holidays. Then, your calculation will be as follows −

Customizing the Definition of a

Weekend
By default, weekend is Saturday and Sunday, i.e. two
days. You can also optionally define your weekend with
the WORKDAY.INTL function. You can specify your
own weekend by a weekend-number that corresponds
to the weekend days as given in the table below. You
need not remember these numbers, because when you
start typing the function, you get a list of numbers and
the weekend days in the drop-down list.

Weekend Days Weekend-number

Saturday, Sunday 1 or omitted

Sunday, Monday 2

Monday, Tuesday 3

Tuesday, Wednesday 4

Wednesday, Thursday 5

Thursday, Friday 6

Friday, Saturday 7

Sunday only 11

Monday only 12

Tuesday only 13

Wednesday only 14

Thursday only 15

Friday only 16

Saturday only 17

Suppose, if weekend is Friday only, you need to use

the number 16 in the WORKDAY.INTL function.

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 Number of Workdays between two
given Dates
There might be a requirement to calculate the number
of workdays between two dates, for example, in the
case of calculating payment to a contract employee
who is paid on per day basis.

You can find the number of workdays between two

dates with the Excel functions NETWORKDAYS and
NETWORKDAYS.INTL. Just as in the case of
WORKDAYS and WORKDAYS.INTL, NETWORKDAYS and
NETWORKDAYS.INTL allow you to specify holidays and
with NETWORKDAYS.INTL you can additionally specify
the weekend.

S.No. Function & Description

NETWORKDAYS
1. Returns the number of whole workdays
between two dates

NETWORKDAYS.INTL
Returns the number of whole workdays
2. between two dates using parameters to
indicate which and how many days are
weekend days

You can calculate the number of workdays between

today and another date with the functions TODAY and
NETWORKDAYS. In the screen shot given below, today
is 16th May 2016 and end date is 16th June 2016.
25th May 2016 and 1st June 2016 are holidays.

Again, the weekend is assumed to be Saturday and

Sunday. You can have your own definition for weekend
and calculate the number of workdays between two
dates with the NETWORKDAYS.INTL function. In the
screen shot given below, only Friday is defined as
weekend.

Extracting Year, Month, Day from

Date
You can extract from each date in a list of dates, the
corresponding day, month and year using the excel

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 functions DAY, MONTH and YEAR.

For example, consider the following dates −

From each of these dates, you can extract day, month

and year as follows −

Extracting Day of the Week from

Date
You can extract from each date in a list of dates, the
corresponding day of the week with Excel WEEKDAY
function.

Consider the same example given above.

Obtaining Date from Year, Month and

Day
You data might have the information about Year, Month
and Day separately. You need to get the date
combining these three values to perform any
calculation. You can use the DATE function for getting
the date values.

Consider the following data −

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 Use the DATE function to obtain DATE values.

Calculating Years, Months and Days

between two Dates
You might have to calculate the time lapsed from a
given date. You might need this information in the
form of years, months and days. A simple example
would be calculating the current age of a person. It is
effectively the difference between the birth date and
today. You can use Excel DATEDIF, TODAY and
CONCATENATE functions for this purpose.

The output is as follows −

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 Working with Time Values
The data that you obtain from different sources might
contain time values. In this chapter, you will
understand how to prepare your data that contains
time values for analysis.

You will learn about −

Time Formats

Time in Serial Format

Time in Hour-Minute-Second Format

Converting Times in Serial Format to Hour-

Minute-Second Format
Converting Times in Hour-Minute-Second
Format to Serial Format
Obtaining the Current Time
Obtaining Time from Hour, Minute and Second
Extracting Hour, Minute and Second from Time
Number of hours between Start Time and End
Time

Time Formats
Excel supports Time Values in two ways −

Serial Format
In various Hour-Minute-Second Formats

You can convert −

Time in Serial Format to Time in Hour-Minute-

Second Format
Time in Hour-Minute-Second Format to Time in
Serial Format

Time in Serial Format

Time in serial format is a positive number that

represents the Time as a fraction of a 24-hour day, the
starting point being midnight. For example, 0.29
represents 7 AM and 0.5 represents 12 PM.

You can also combine Date and Time in the same cell.
The serial number is the number of days after January
1, 1900, and the time fraction associated with the
given time. For example, if you type May 17, 2016 6
AM, it gets converted to 42507.25 when you format
the cell as General.

Time in Hour-Minute-Second Format

Excel allows you to specify time in Hour-Minute-Second

Format with a colon (:) after the hour and another
colon before the seconds. Example, 8:50 AM, 8:50 PM
or just 8:50 using the 12-Hour Format or as 8:50,
20:50 in 24-Hour format. The time 8:50:55 AM
represents 8 hours, 50 minutes and 55 seconds.

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 You can also specify date and time together. For
example, if you type May 17, 2016 7:25 in a cell, it will
be displayed as 5/17/2016 7:25 and it represents
5/17/2016 7:25:00 AM.

Excel supports different Time formats based on the

Locale (Location) you choose. Hence, you need to first
determine the compatibility of your Time formats and
data analysis at hand.

For understanding purpose, you can assume United

States as the Locale. You find the following Time
formats to choose for Date and Time – 17th May,
2016 4 PM −

4:00:00 PM
16:00
4:00 PM
16:00:00
5/17/16 4:00 PM
5/17/16 16:00

Converting Times in Serial Format to

Hour-Minute-Second Format
To convert serial time format to hour-min-sec format
follow the steps given below −

Click the Number tab in the Format Cells

dialog box
Click Time under Category.
Select the Locale. Available Time formats will
be displayed as a list under Type.
Click on a Format under Type to look at the
Preview in the box adjacent to Sample.

After choosing the Format, click OK

Converting Times in Hour-Minute-

Second Format to Serial Format
You can convert Time in Hour-Minute-Second format
to serial format in two ways −

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 Using Format Cells dialog box
Using Excel TIMEVALUE function

Using Format Cells dialog box

Click the Number tab in the Format Cells

dialog box.
Click General under Category.

Using Excel TIMEVALUE Function

You can use Excel TIMEVALUE function to convert

Time to Serial Number format. You need to enclose
the Time argument in “”. For example,

TIMEVALUE ("16:55:15") results in

0.70503472

Obtaining the Current Time

If you need to perform calculations based on current
time, simply use the Excel function NOW (). The result
reflects the date and time when it is used.

The following screen shot of Now () function usage has

been taken on 17th May, 2016 at 12:22 PM.

Obtaining Time from Hour, Minute

and Second
Your data might have the information about hours,
minutes and seconds separately. Suppose, you need to
get the Time combining these 3 values to perform any
calculation. You can use Excel Function Time for getting
the Time values.

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 Extracting Hour, Minute and Second
from Time
You can extract hour, minute and second from a given
time using the Excel functions HOUR, MINUTE and
SECOND.

Number of hours between Start Time

and End Time
When you perform computations on Time values, the
result displayed depends on the format used in the
cell. For example, you can compute the number of
hours between 9:30 AM and 6 PM as follows −

C4 is formatted as Time
C5 and C6 are formatted as Number.

You get the time difference as days. To convert to

hours you need to multiply by 24.

Excel Data Analysis - Conditional

Formatting
In Microsoft Excel, you can use Conditional
Formatting for data visualization. You have to specify
formatting for a cell range based on the contents of the
cell range. The cells that meet the specified conditions
would be formatted as you have defined.

Example

In a range containing the sales figures of the past

quarter for a set of salespersons, you can highlight
those cells representing who have met the defined
target, say, $2500.

You can set the condition as total sales of the person

>= $2500 and specify a color code green. Excel
checks each cell in the range to determine whether the
condition you specified, i.e., total sales of the person
>= $2500 is satisfied.

Excel applies the format you chose, i.e. the green color
to all the cells that satisfy the condition. If the content
of a cell does not satisfy the condition, the formatting
of the cell remains unchanged. The result is as
expected, only for the salespersons who have met the
target, the cells are highlighted in green – a quick
visualization of the analysis results.

You can specify any number of conditions for

formatting by specifying Rules. You can pick up the
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 rules that match your conditions from

Highlight cells rules

Top / Bottom rules

You can also define your own rules. You can −

Add a rule
Clear an existing rule
Manage the defined rules

Further, you have several formatting options in Excel to

choose the ones that are appropriate for your Data
Visualization −

Data Bars
Color Scales

Icon Sets

Conditional formatting has been promoted over the

versions Excel 2007, Excel 2010, Excel 2013. The
examples you find in this chapter are from Excel 2013.

In the following sections, you will understand the

conditional formatting rules, formatting options and
how to work with rules.

Highlight Cells Rules

You can use Highlight Cells rule to assign a format to
cells whose contents meet any of the following criteria
−

Numbers within a given numerical range −

Greater Than

Less Than
Between
Equal To

Text that contains a given text string.

Date occurring within a given range of dates
relative to the current date −

Yesterday
Today
Tomorrow
In the last 7 days
Last week
This week

Next week
Last month
This Month
Next month

Values that are duplicate or unique.

Follow the steps to conditionally format cells −

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 Select the range to be conditionally formatted.
Click Conditional Formatting in the Styles
group under Home tab.
Click Highlight Cells Rules from the drop-
down menu.

Click Greater Than and specify >750. Choose

green color.
Click Less Than and specify < 500. Choose red
color.
Click Between and specify 500 and 750.
Choose yellow color.

The data will be highlighted based on the given

conditions and the corresponding formatting.

Top / Bottom Rules

You can use Top / Bottom Rules to assign a format
to cells whose contents meet any of the following
criteria −

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