Psychology 403Laboratory in Cognitive PsychologyFall, 2001
Introduction to Excel
Excel lessons (we are using Excel 97, but other versions will work...just look different on the screen)
[versions- I will save in Excel 97/98 and Excel 5.0/95. If you exchange files with others, you can read files from older versions but not newer, but using newer version you can specify the version you save as when you do a Save As .....]
I. general advice
A. -save and back up things you donÕt want to lose them
1. if losing it would make you cry....save it and back it up
B. there are many ways to skin a cat.... & there are many different ways to accomplish the same thing in Excel...if it works and you are happy doing it that way, then all is well
II. opening the program
III. Help (click on Help column, select Contents and Index)
IV. Excel Workbooks
A. multiple pages
1. selecting pages by clicking on tabs
2. labeling pages
a) double click on a tab to change label
V. entering info in cells
A. cell labels (e.g. c14, a1, etc.)- column and row
B. cell contents
[seeing the contents directly vs seeing the entry in the window at the top of the page (where you can see the formula, if there is one)]
1. text
2. numbers
a) formatting may determine the number of decimal places displayed, but for calculations the actual value will be used, not the displayed value
3. formulas based on the contents of other cells
a) simple formulas
(1) begin with =
(a) e.g. computing the mean (or median, or standard deviation)
(2) can be typed in or selected from a menu
b) using functions
(1) select function from insert menu
(a) groups of functions
(b) using the function wizard
[wizards in general will guide you through multi-step operations]
i) selecting ranges of cells vs. typing in cell IDs
ii) naming variables
4. formatting cell contents using buttons and/or format menu
a) significant figures using the menu buttons
b) formatting multiple cells at the same time by selecting them or by selecting a column or row
C. copying (the contents of cells or groups of cells)
1. copy and paste vs. copy and paste special
a) beware of (or appreciate) the relative copying that usually occurs with formulas
VI. formatting pages
A. changing column widths
1. double clicking the column boundary will cause it to size to just fit the largest item
B. adding grids or lines as for tables
C. sorting (to rearrange the page)
1. sorting a single column
2. sorting multiple columns together, based on the contents of one of the columns
VII. graphs (charts)
A. using the graph wizard
1. chart types (wizard thumbnail pictures as guides- interpreting them)
a) column (and bar)
b) line
(1) categorical variables on the abscissa (x axis)
(2) lines (connecting points) or just points
c) XY scatterplots
(1) quantitative variables on the abscissa
(2) lines (connecting points) or just points
2. menus at the top are dynamic, so when you have selected a graph there will be a chart menu added to the top of the page
a) using the chart menu or clicking on things to find menus relevant to them
3. getting rid of background colors, etc. that do not reproduce well in black and white
VIII. printing
A. showing or suppressing grids and/or row and column labels
B. printing to fit onto a single page automatically
1. or to be 1 page wide by n pages long
C. selecting a part of a page to print
D. printing just a graph from a page, as a full page