How Excel is used in Real-World Data Analysis

Overview of excel

Excel is a widely known data analysis and visualization tool–a valuable asset crucial for professional growth, for its accessibility and usability.
It is useful for data entry, data cleaning, visualization and generation of reports that can be presented in dashboards. The built in formulas aid in performing simple calculations and analysis of given datasets.

Applications of excel the in real world

Basic data analysis – inbuilt functions, e.g. MAX, SUM, AVERAGE, are essential in handling arithmetic computations. It allows users to analyze data quickly, and with ease. Examples include computing profitability and liquidity ratios.

Financial reporting – Excel allows for presentation of financial data in a clear and concise manner. This can be presented visually using features such as pivot charts to create dashboards and reports necessary for decision making. Examples include sales and expenditure reports.

Expense Tracking - Users can customize an Excel spreadsheet to track expenses, could be in groups as fuel, shopping, rent expenses. This makes it easier for budgeting depending on spending patterns.

Common excel features/ formulas

Average – Returns the average of number in a range selected. Is divides the total of a range with the number of entries in the selection.

Count - Counts how many numbers there are in a given cell. Can be used to check for duplicates.

Data validation – a feature that restricts data that users can input in a cell ensuring consistency and accuracy.

Pivot tables and charts – Pivot tables present summarized data, while pivot charts provide graphical visualizations of the said data for easier identification of trends and patterns. Both are used when creating dashboards.

Find and replace – Find helps the user locate required data in the spreadsheet. While Replace allows one to change original data with new data where necessary.

Reflection

Approximately 402 million terabytes of data is generated every day. Even though Excel may not handle such huge datasets, excel remains to be a wonderful data analysis tool; knowledge in data preparation, analysis and visualization is crucial in drawing actionable insights from the data. Using features such as pivot tables and filters, it becomes easier to sift through large datasets to make summarized reports. Additionally, creating visually appealing dashboards make it easier for comprehension and pattern recognition – all keys for storytelling with data.
Having a background in finance and accounting, Excel is a tool I’ve used before, however, during the past week of learning Excel, I’ve explored more of what it can do beyond statistical analysis I’m accustomed to–even more excited for how it will shape my data analytics journey.