Analyzing Your Data Like a Pro: Data Analysis Pt. 2

Now that you have installed the Analysis Toolpak, let's get down to analyzing your data!

In Column A and B we have the weekly closing stock price of the Dow Jones from 1/1/13 to 6/30/13.

If you wanted to statistically analyze the data, you could go through and manually enter all of the formulas. But who has time for that?! Instead, lets use our new-found friend, Analysis Toolpak.

1. Select all of the data in Column B. It does not matter if you include the heading. Go to the the Data tab and to the far right you will see Data Analysis. Click on that icon.

2. A menu will appear. Select Descriptive Statistics and OK.

3. The next form that appears should already be partially populated with the Input Range. Make sure if you included the heading that you click the "Label in first row". The output is about 2 columns wide and 14 rows. Also, be sure to select the "Summary statistics" box. Once you have made all of the changes, click OK.

4. You are all done! Now all of your statistics are in a single place and all you had to do was click a few buttons. Now the big decision...what to do with all of your extra time...

Analyzing Your Data Like a Pro: Data Analysis Pt. 1

Let's say you have 3,000 rows of data, for instance, historical stock prices. You want to quickly see the following information:

• Average
• Standard deviation
• Confidence level
• Minimum
• Maximum
• Count
• Sum

You could create a separate area on your spreadsheet and manually input all of this information...OR you could have Excel automatically do it for you! In this 2 part tutorial, we'll teach you have to get going on this tool. The first part will teach you have to put the Analysis ToolPak on your Excel. The second part will teach you how to use it.

1) Go to File on the Ribbon and click on Options at the bottom of the left hand column.

2) A menu will pop up. One the left hand column, select Add-Ins

3) At the bottom-center of the page, select Excel Add-ins from the drop down menu and then click Go

4) Once the next menu appears, click the Analysis ToolPak option and then click OK

5) Your new favorite statistics toy is now conveniently located on your Data tabon the far right side! Awesome!

Now that you have the tool loaded, tune in next week where we will teach you some of the cool items you can do with the Analysis ToolPak!