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Benard Otieno
Benard Otieno

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How Excel is Used in Real-World Data Analysis

Microsoft Excel is a tool used to collect, organize, analyse and visualize data. Various industries use excel to analyse data, for instance the businesses and marketing sector. Businesses use excel to keep track of their income, profit and losses, so as to see where they can improve on. On the other hand, sales and marketing sector use excel to analyse trend in sales and consumer data.
Some of the excel features include example:

  1. *Formulas *
  2. AVERAGE, Which is used to calculate the average e.g. =AVERAGE(B2:B30)

  • SUM, Which is used to addition of a range of numbers e.g SUM(B2:B30)
  1. Another feature used in excel also includes pivot table which is used to analyse big data. Example of a Pivot table

Pivort Table
Pivot tables is an excel tool used to analyse and simplify data without using formulas. To access the pivot table, click anywhere in the data and go to insert, then at the top right corner click pivot table then select New worksheet.

Slicers
Slicers are used in excel to filter pivort tables and graphs. It is a easy to use since it helps display what is currently filtered by just clicking the button menus.

Graphs
Grphs are used in excel to show a visual representation of numerical data and analyse the data in more easier way to understand and intepret. Graphs enable the identifivation of trends, highlighting anomalies and comparing categories. Exaples of graphs include, line grapg and bar graph etc.

Dashboard
A dashboard is a visual report that helps to simplify Key Perfomance Indicater through tables, charts and graphs that are interactive. Dashboard enables raw data to be transformed into meaningful insights, to help in decision making by enabling users to filter data through slicers for automatic update of data.

In Summary
Microsoft Excel is a significant tool for data analysis. Excel has the ability to do simple calculations, it also enables users to turn raw data into meaningful insights. Excel features such as Pivot Tables, and visualization tools like the graphs, individuals can significantly enhance their ability to analyze and interpret data.

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