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Excel for statistics

Module 1, Session 4

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Learning Objectivesparticipants should be able to:Explain how an Excel add-in can provide

the equivalent of a simple statistics package

Explain what a statistics package containsUse the SSC-Stat add-in

to analyse a single column of data

Distinguish between the use of a packageand learning how to use it

Know how to find instructions to install an add-in for Excel

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Contents

Introduction of the ideas Practical work

using the statistics add-in, called SSC-Stat

Practical work using SSC-Stat for data analysis

Discussion and review

(The SSC-Stat software may have to be installed)

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So far with Excel You can organise data

so it is ready for analysis

You can do some statistics Tables and graphs

Sort, Filter, Tables, Charts and more charts

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A statistical add-in Now we add to Excel’s statistical capabilities We use an add-in called SSC-Stat It provides an additional menu in Excel:

An additional menu with more facilities

for organising, charting and analysing data

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What is an add-in? Excel is a very powerful spreadsheet package But no package can have everything So Excel also provides facilities:

For users to add extra components to Excel These are called add-ins And are provided by 3rd party suppliers They are not part of Excel when it arrives

There are many add-ins for statistics They enhance Excel’s statistical capabilities We are providing one called SSC-Stat

Is SSC-Stat already installed in your Excel? If so, you will see the extra menu shown earlier

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Installing SSC-Stat?

If SSC-Stat is not installed in your Excel You need to install it

Installing SSC-Stat is a 2-stage process There is a demonstration on the DVD/network

First install the software on your computer Find it on a DVD, your network, or the SSC website

Then go into Excel And use the Tools => Add-ins menu To tell Excel you would like this add-in to appear

Once SSC-Stat is installed into Excel It will appear each time you use Excel So you only need to install it once

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How to learn about new software

A good way to learn it to start using it! SSC-Stat has a tutorial And we also provide 2 demonstrations This way of learning can also give you

confidence That you can learn about new software Without always needing a training course

After the practical work We discuss the role of SSC-Stat

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Practical work

It is mainly to learn the software Not statistics

If you also learn some statistics, then that is a bonus

But don’t let it distract you from learning how to use the software

Now it is time for the demonstrations and practical work

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What is SSC-Stat? A tiny statistics package Designed to support good statistics

with Excel

Three main menus Manipulate – to organise the data for analysis Visualise - to draw graphs Analyse - to do statistics

Dialogues to let you choose which columns to process

Statistics packages are “column calculators Simple statistics use single columns

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What is good statistics with Excel? SSC-Stat encourages good statistics in Excel

what is that?

Keep data to be in “list” format Use reliable algorithms/calculations

So the summary statistics are correct Up to Excel 2003 some simple statistics were not reliable They are, in SSC-Stat

Produce good tables Produce good, clear graphs

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Other statistics packages Excel is sufficient as your statistics package

for this module

But you could also use a statistics package if you wish

They are easy to learn Especially if you found SSC-Stat easy to learn Did you – at least so far?

And they are easy to use And they exchange data easily with Excel

If your Excel data are in a list Which they need to be for SSC-Stat

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SSC-Stat menus and SPSS menus

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SSC-Stat dialogue and Genstat dialogue

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Learning objectives:

Are you now able to Explain how an Excel add-in can provide

the equivalent of a very simple statistics package

Explain what a statistics package contains Use the SSC-Stat add-in

to analyse a single column of data

Distinguish between the use of a package and learning how to use it