Excel: Data Analysis with Formulas/Functions and PivotTables

Overview

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In this course, you'll continue developing your data-analysis skills in Excel by analyzing data using formulas and functions. You'll also analyze data using PivotTables. This is the second course in a multi-course Specialization. All of the courses in this Specialization require that you have a recent version of Microsoft Excel installed. The course setup instructions provided in the first course go into more detail about the hardware and software requirements.

Syllabus

Analyzing Data with Formulas and Functions

Microsoft® Excel's® formulas and functions provide you with a robust set of options for performing complex calculations on the data in your workbooks. But on their own, they may not always perform the precise calculations you need them to. For example, you may need a function to reference a value from another dataset based on some particular criteria. But, how do you tell the function how to look that up? Or perhaps you need one of your arguments to be the result of another formula or function. Although you could always enter that formula or function in another cell and then simply include a reference to that cell as an argument in the original function, this could quickly take up a lot of real estate on your worksheet, which isn't always desirable.

Analyzing Data with PivotTables

You've already seen the way Microsoft® Excel® functions and features can help you drill down into your data to get answers to very specific questions. Although using sorting and filtering is often a good option for attaining specific answers, these aren't necessarily the best options if you need to frequently change the questions you're asking of your data. To change the question you're asking when using functions, sorting, and filtering, you often need to rewrite functions, adjust criteria, or re-filter your data; sometimes, you need to use several of these methods at the same time. If you work in a high-paced, data-intensive environment, you simply may not have the time needed to recalculate every time a supervisor asks you a different question. You need something a little more dynamic. Excel includes a powerful feature that enables you to ask any number of questions of your data; get detailed, specific answers; and do it all over again in just a matter of moments. By using PivotTables to analyze your data, you can get critical, time-sensitive organizational intelligence to the people who need it quickly, easily, and with a high level of flexibility.