Intro to excel
• Keyboard commands
• References
• Autofill
• Tidying
• Functions (if we get time)
Keyboard commands
•
•
Part of this class is making you efficient
If you want to speed up dramatically, learn
to use the keyboard shortcuts
•
•
•
Alt + tab: switches between applications
Ctrl + X, C,V: cut, copy, paste
Ctrl + Z: undo
Your Turn
Download excel training
worksheet off website
Work through the keyboarding exercises
Referencing Cells
•
Cells in Excel are described in form of a letter
followed by a number for (column, row):
A
What happens for tables
with more than 26 columns?
1
2
3
4
5
6
B
C
D
E
Absolute and Relative
References
•
A relative reference has the form
letters number,
eg A1, Z46, AA34
•
An absolute reference is written in the form
$letters $number,
eg $A$1, $Z$46, $AA$34
•
Absolute and relative references can be mixed, e.g.
$letters number
letters $number
What’s the difference?
Absolute and Relative
References
•
We need to reference a cell in a formula,
e.g.
=A1
•
A relative reference is storing an offset
from the current cell (i.e. it depends on the
cell into which you are typing ‘=A1’)
•
The difference between relative and
absolute references becomes clear when
you try copying and pasting the formula
•
Use =A$1 =$A1 =$A$1 for absolute
Your turn
• Have a look at the absolute vs relative
references sheet
• What happens if you make a circular
reference?
• Experiment with moving different types of
references
• Look up named references in help
Autofill
•
•
•
Click and drag
•
•
What sort of series does it recognize?
Right-click and drag
Double click
What does holding down modifier keys do?
Sheet formatting
•
•
Excel is primarily an intermediate format
•
•
between collection and analysis
you will normally get it after data
collection has taken place
Want to optimize it for analysis
Why?
•
The more time you spend now, the more
time you save later on
•
But beware that data often changes, so
automate and train
•
(we’ll talk more about automation later)
Data tidying
•
•
•
Fill in all the blanks
Give variables descriptive, but short, names
•
Don’t use any special characters, stick
with numbers and letters
Minimum of formatting