Activity No.

2
ENGINEERING DATA ANALYSIS
Importing External Data
Data located in compatible external files can be imported into excel without the need to retype
all the information again. Depending on the format of the data you would like to import, different
methods can be used, including opening and saving in Excel, linking to data, importing data and
copying and pasting data into excel.

Considerations when importing data into Excel

Malware / Macros – Unfortunately there are ways to hide malware inside Excel files. This is
usually done via “macros” which are little programs that are typically created to do complex or
repetitive tasks. Because hackers have exploited these tools, Microsoft has disabled macros by
default in Excel. In fact, when you open an Excel file from an untrusted source, you will get a security
warning like this one. If you are working on data from an unknown or untrusted source, use caution
before “Enabling Editing”

Some hackers have even learned to use social engineering techniques to try and trick users
into turning macros back on. For example there may be an image in the file that appears blurred
with a note that it is for security reasons. The goal is to get you to enable macros so that you can
‘see’ the image when, in reality, enabling the macro allows the virus to run. Of course if you have
good anti-virus / anti-malware programs installed, they will go a long way towards mitigating that
threat.
References within a file or sheet to external data
You can refer to the contents of cells in another Excel workbook by creating an external
reference.
An external reference (also called a link) is a reference to a cell or range on a worksheet in
another Excel workbook, or a reference to a defined name in another workbook. If your data is
coming from a source beyond your immediate control, you may find that these ‘links’ are broken. If
you don’t have access to the workbooks/worksheets where the underlying data lives, you won’t be
able to use it via the link in the spreadsheet you are currently working on.

Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics is the discipline of quantitatively (expressed as numbers) describing
the main features of a collection of data. Excel’s Analysis Toolpak add-in offers a variety of features
to undertake statistical computations and graphing. Descriptive Statistics is included to provide
statistical averages (mean, mode, median), standard error, standard deviation, sample variance,
kurtosis and confidence levels of sample data.

Using Variance and Standard Deviation in Excel

Variance is a measure of the average of the squared difference from the
mean. Here is how it is defined manually:
• Subtract the mean from each value in the data. This gives you a measure of the distance of
each value from the mean.
• Square each of these distances (so that they are all positive values), and add all of the
squares together.
• Divide the sum of the squares by the number of values in the data set.
(if calculating variance for a sample subtract 1 from the number of values)

The standard deviation (σ) is simply a measure of how close the values are to the average. A
smaller number means the values are bunched whilst a larger number indicates values that are
spread out.
Histograms and Frequency
A histogram is used to display tabulated frequencies of data in graphical form. It is able to
show the proportion of data that fits into specific categories or bins. For example, we may want to
find out how many items were of a particular length, e.g. 100mm. Excel provides a Histogram tool
which is available via the Analysis ToolPak add-in. With the latest versions of Excel there is now
a Histogram chart available in the Statistics chart options.
 6. Select the required data set (QS World University
Rankings – Top 50) on the left pane of the
Navigator to preview it
NB: You can use the edit button to clean the data before importing

7. Select QS World University Rankings – Top 50

8. Click on Load

A connection will be created to the data on the website. This will

ensure that refreshing your excel file will update the data to the
latest version. Excel will then open a new worksheet with the
imported data.

Refresh Linked Data

9. Click on any cell within the data table
10. Click on the Data tab
11. Select Refresh All
NB: Refresh all will refresh all connections in the workbook. If you want
to refresh data on a single sheet click Refresh

NB: You may get a Microsoft Excel Security Notice about connections
to external data sources. You can safely click OK here but see the
section on Considerations when importing data into Excel below
for further information.

Exercise No. 2
Open exercise files and enable content
1. Open the exercise file Data
Analysis_Exercises.xlsx and select the Importing Data & Histograms
worksheet.
2. Click on the Enable Content button on the
Security Warning (if necessary)
3. If you get a Security Warning dialog box.
Click on Yes

Note: In Office 365 (Windows version) Microsoft removed the Text Import Wizard as an
option when using steps below. They force you to use the Power Query window which does
not have the “Treat consecutive delimiters as one” option. You can get around this by
opening the text file directly in Excel which will launch the wizard below
Import data from text file:
4. Click the Data tab
5. Click From Text (in the Get External Data
group)
6. Locate data_analysis.txt
7. Click on Import (in Mac – Get Data)
8. Click on Delimited option
9. Click Next
10. Tick the following options:
Tab
Space
Treat consecutive delimiters as one
11. Click Next

12. Ensure General option is selected

13. Click Finish

14. Assign data to $A$1 in existing worksheet

15. Click OK
Exercise No. 3
Mac users may need to add the Analysis Tool Pack

Data Tab – Far right hand side – click Analysis

Tools button

Click next to Analysis ToolPak

Choose OK

The Data Analysis button will now be visible

1. Click Data Analysis (at the far right of ribbon)

on the Data tab

2. Click Descriptive Statistics

3. Click OK
 4. Highlight cells $A$1:$D$201 for Input Range
5. Select Grouped by columns
6. Click Labels in first row box
7. Click Output Range
8. Highlight cell $G$1 for Output Range
9. Select Summary statistics
10. Click OK
NB: To obtain descriptive statistics for one group
ensure that only one column is selected.

Exercise No. 4
To use Basic Statistical Functions
1. Ensure you are on the Basic
Statistics worksheet
2. Select the Home tab
3. Click in cell C14
4. Click AutoSum
Check the range is (C5:C11)
5. Press Enter

6. Use Autofill to calculate sum for

remaining weeks)

7. Calculate with statistical functions

Sample size = COUNT
Mean = AVERAGE
Minimum value = MIN
Maximum value = MAX
Note: Mean and Average are different terms for the
same thing when dealing with Statistics
 8. Select cells C14 to C18
9. Autofill across to fill cells in
remaining weeks

NB: For quick statistical reference refer to status bar after highlighting a selection of values. Adjust options on
status bar by right clicking on it and selecting items.

Exercise No. 5
To use Variance Function on a sample
1. Click in cell C21

2. Click button in formula bar

3. Change category to Statistical
4. Click on VAR.S function
5. Select range (C5:C11)
6. Click on OK

To use Standard Deviation Function on a sample

1. Click in cell C22

2. Click button in formula bar

3. Change category to Statistical
4. Click on STDEV.S function

5. Select range (C5:C11)

6. Click on OK
 Repeat steps above for entire population using range
(C5:I11)
• Click cell C25: Overall Average:
=AVERAGE(C5:I11)
• Click cell C26: Overall Variance: =VAR.P(C5:I11)
• Click cell C27: Overall Std Deviation =
STDEV.P(C5:I11)
• Click cell C33: Overall Sum = SUM(C5:I11)

To find WeeklyTotal as a percentage of the Overall Total

1. Go to cell C34
2. Enter =C14/C33 in the formula bar
3. Press function key F4
Note: This will change cell reference C33 to absolute reference
$C$33
4. Press enter
5. Autofill across (D34:I34)
Exercise No. 6
Use worksheet “Importing Data & Histograms”
Using the tool in Data Analysis
Prepare data for a histogram of weights
1. Go to cell F19
2. Type “Bin”
3. Go to cell F20 4. Type 0
5. Go to cell F21
6. Type 50
7. Select F20 and F21
8. Autofill to display a value of 500 in cell F30

Input Range: This is the data that you want to analyse by using the Histogram tool.
Bin Range: This represents the intervals that you want the Histogram tool to use for
measuring the input data in the data analysis.
 9. Click Data Analysis (at the far right of the
ribbon) on Data tab

10. Click on Histogram

11. Click OK

Complete the dialog box as follows:

• Input Range = $A1:$A201
• Bin Range = $F$19:$F$30
• Tick Labels
• Output Range: $I$21
• Tick Chart Output

12. Click OK

To display the frequencies in Histogram:

1. Click on Histogram in worksheet
2. Click Data Labels on Add Chart Element
button
3. Select Outside End

NB: Table with Bin and Frequency headings will appear along with Histogram graph.
Resize graph as required.

Using the Statistics Chart - Histogram option

Select the data range A1:A201
Insert tab – Charts - Statistics Chart -
Histogram

A Histogram will appear

Windows:
Single click the X axis – Double click the X axis to launch the Format Axis
panel on the right of the screen.
Choose the Axis Option and expand the Axis Options
Set the Bin Width to 25
Set the Overflow bin to 200
Set the Underflow bin to 50

Mac:
Right mouse click the blue data series
columns
Choose Format Data Series…
Expand the Data Series Options (if necessary)
Change Bins – Auto to Bin Width Set the Bin Width to 25
Set the Overflow bin to 200
Set the Underflow bin to 50
6. Data and Results

7. Conclusion

9. Assessment Rubric:
10. References:
Excel Data Analysis Staff Training (Bookings). (n.d.).
https://web.library.uq.edu.au/files/142294/20210831_Excel_Data_Analysis.pdf