Simple Statistics Using Excel

LABORATORY SKILLS TRAININGSCI 110

Introduction• The following slides are just a few data points

measuring pressure in mmHg, and will serve as a good example.

• The screenshots are fairly accurate except for some reason when a dialog box is open in Excel, some information is not visible in the screenshot.

• Follow through each screenshot to be able to determine the statistical information need for your lab reports.

Enter Data & Use a Function

2. Enter your title on the top line and data points in the column, one per cell.

3. Click in a cell below the data you wish to display the average (A12).

1. Open a new spreadsheet in Excel.

Find the Average of Cells A2-A10

1. Place the cursor on fx symbol and click, you will see an = sign appearin the cell and in the white space. The dialog box below will open.

2.Click on Average and then click OK.

Find the Average of Cells A2-A10

1. Check the cell numbers that are to be averaged and make sure they are correct.2. These are not, so place the cursor in the space and click to activate edit.

Find the Average of Cells A2-A10

1. Change the numbers to include all the numbers you want to average. (For this example, we will average cells A2:A10. If you include the title, the average will not display.)

2. Click OK.

Your Page Should Look Like This

2. The mean value will be displayed in cell A12 and

1. The formula will be displayed in the white space.

Type a Title & Add Another Function

1. Type the title Average in the cell adjacent to the average for identification.

2. Click in cell A13, then click on fx to add your next function.

Find the Standard Deviation of A2-A10

1. To find the Standard Deviation (STDev), first select the Statistical functions

2. Search the list, select STDev. 3. Click OK

Edit Numbers for Correct Cells

1. Place the cursor in the Number1 box and click to edit the cells.

Edit To Evaluate STDev of A2-A10

1. Enter A2:A10.

2. Click OK

Your Page Should Look Like This

The mean and standard deviation for this set of data is written as766.5245 ± 0.247228, the smaller the STDev the better the data!

1. Give a title to the cell to identify the STDev.

2. Now you are ready to present the mean and standard deviation in your lab report.

Keep Adding More Functions

• Find all of the rest of the statistics that you need by repeating the steps.

• Scroll through the different functions to see what else you should report as statically important information.

• Make sure to discuss your statistical interpretation of the data in the Summary portion of your lab report.