15 Excel Data Analysis Functions You Need to Know
Microsoft Excel, that catchy beast we've all used at some betoken in our lives, is an essential tool in data analytics. This spreadsheet program is one of the first things aspiring data analysts must get to grips with. In this article, we're giving you a taste of how Excel is used past information analysts.
To use Excel properly, a practiced understanding of the program's formulas is required. These formulas operate on values within a cell or cells, producing specific information such as the total sum or lowest value of a selection of cells. We're launching an Intro to Data Analytics Course, which will focus on a series of Excel-based analytical tasks. The course is comprised of 10 exercises, and students will larn the basics of Excel while working on a data set related to the video game industry.
To become y'all in the mood for some number crunching, we're covering x Excel formulas that'll make your life a lot easier if you learn them. By the finish of this article, you'll have an understanding of the basic functions of Excel, and an appreciation for its capabilities. Let's dive straight in.
Contents
- CONCATENATE
- VLOOKUP
- LEN
- SUMIFS
- DAYS/NETWORKDAYS
- SUBSTITUTE
- MINIFS/MAXIFS
- TRIM
- COUNTIFS
- LEFT/RIGHT
ane. CONCATENATE
Let'due south showtime with a straightforward one. Concatenate allows you to combine the values of several cells into one. Information technology'south i of the most powerful formulas for conducting data analysis, and is commonly used to combine text, dates and numbers. Combining the components of a URL, or the lines of an address, are two typical examples of what the formula is used for. You'll find a complete step-by-step CONCATENATE tutorial here.
two. VLOOKUP
You've no dubiousness come across =VLOOKUP, which volition be familiar to anyone who's used Excel. The formula allows y'all to look up data that is arranged in vertical columns. For example, if you take a list of months of the year with the profit made in each calendar month, =VLOOKUP tin present the data from the month of your pick. You'll find a step-by-step guide to the VLOOKUP role here, and it's also worth checking out the XLOOKUP office, likewise.
iii. LEN
LEN is used in information analysis to display the number of characters in any given cell. It'due south often used when creating texts with character limits, or when trying to place the deviation between product numbers. In the above case, Len is used to count the number of characters in the names.
4. SUMIFS
The =SUMIF office is an essential formula in the world of data analytics. The formula adds up the values in cells which meet a selected number. In the above example, the formula is calculation up the numbers in cells that are higher than the number 5. You'll find a comprehensive SUMIF tutorial here.
v. DAYS/NETWORKDAYS
This one is adequately self explanatory. =DAYS determines the number of days betwixt ii calendar dates, and is commonly used to determine production life cycles or contract periods. =NETWORKDAYS is its more useful counterpart, and is used to calculate the number of working days betwixt two dates. You could say this formula lives for the weekend.
vi. SUBSTITUTE
This is a useful trick that is ideal for updating cells in bulks. It's another 1 that does exactly what it says, and is extremely useful for updating URLs, removing unintentional spaces or spelling errors. In the example above, the formula is replacing the letter 't' with 'b'.
7. MINIFS/MAXIFS
This handy formula identifies which value is the lowest and which is the highest. But it does more than merely that, it also sorts values in relation to a particular criteria too. For example, you can apply it to sort the oldest and youngest ages from a sample of men and women, displaying the values by gender. In the to a higher place example, the MINIFS formula is returning 88, because that'due south the lowest number that meets the criteria.
8. TRIM
Using =TRIM allows you to remove unwanted spaces or characters from text. In club for analysts to work with data, ofttimes you must clean up the data earlier use. =TRIM is one of the many useful formulas that cleans upward data before analysis. The example in a higher place shows how an unwanted space was removed at the terminate of a proper noun.
nine. COUNTIFS
THE COUNTIFS formula counts the numbers how many times a value appears based on 1 criteria. In the example above, 'Red' and 'England' appear twice together, and that number is returned in the COUNTIFS cell. You'll find a step-past-footstep COUNTIFS tutorial hither.
10. LEFT/Correct
The =LEFT and =RIGHT formulas are simple ways of getting data out of static cells. =LEFT returns the desired number of characters from the showtime of the jail cell, while =RIGHT does the contrary. Need to extract the surface area codes from a list of phone numbers? This is the formula for yous.
Final thoughts
There are many analysis tools available within specific programming languages, but Excel is a pop pick when analyzing relatively small amounts of data. The ten formulas we've covered represent the tip of the iceberg in terms of what you can do with Excel, but they give you a taste of the kind of powers you can yield as a data analyst.
If this has whetted your appetite for more, you'll find a hands-on introduction to data analytics in this free 5-24-hour interval short course. And, if you'd like to learn more almost forging a career as a information analyst or data scientist, check out the following:
- Data analyst salary guide: How much could I really earn?
- 25 Terms all aspiring information analysts must know
- What'due south the difference betwixt data analysts and data scientists?
And, for more Excel functions and formulas, have a look at these:
- How to employ the IFERROR function in Excel
- How to use the IF part in Excel
- What is the Round reference in Excel
Source: https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/data-analytics/10-excel-formulas-every-data-analyst-should-know/
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