PROBLEM SOLVING IN

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Session 8
Some Excel Skills for Data
Analytics
M.Sc. Thien Nguyen
Email: thien.nguyen@isb.edu.vn
Phone: 0949088908
 Agenda
1. Overview of Excel
2. Some Common Excel Functions
3. Five Basic Charts
4. Q&A
 Part I
1. Overview of Excel
2. A Brief Introduction to EDA

Introduction

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I. Introduction
1. Overview

➤Excel is the leading spreadsheet software program

➤A very powerful and easy-to-use data visualization & analysis tool

Source: Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Software | Microsoft 365

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An important part of the Microsoft BASE

Source: Microsoft Business Applications Solutions Ecosystem (2021 edition)

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I. Introduction
1. Overview

➤Some limitations (2023.01)

(2^20 by 2^14)

Source: Excel specifications and limits | Microsoft

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I. Introduction
1. Overview

(from 2018)

Source: Excel vs. Google Sheets usage — nature and numbers | by Hjalmar Gislason

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I. Introduction
1. Overview

Source: Google Sheets vs Excel - What are the Differences? | oneeducation.org.uk

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I. Introduction
1. Overview

CSV file:

➤ A file format: Comma Separated Value

➤Data is presented in tabular format
➤Is just a text file (like .txt)
➤Almost no limitation in numbers of rows
and columns

.CSV files can be manipulated and analyzed

using functions and features in Excel
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I. Introduction
1. Overview

CSV file:

➤ Open .csv file safely

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I. Introduction
1. Overview

CSV file: compared to .xlsx (Excel file)

(and Excel)

Source: What are the differences between an Excel file and a CSV file?
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I. Introduction
1. Overview

➤Download the Excel Formula Tutorial

Link: https://templates.office.com/en-us/Formula-tutorial-TM16400656

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I. Introduction
1. Overview

➤All Excel Functions:

Link: Excel functions (by category) | Microsoft

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I. Introduction
1. Overview

➤A very good source for learning Excel

Link: https://www.excel-easy.com/

Facebook: Excel Easy | Facebook

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 Part II
1. Filtering & Sorting
2. Describing & Summarizing
3. VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP
4. PivotTable
Some Common
Excel Skills

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II. Some Common Excel Skills

Example: Sale data

- 02 sheets
- Main data: 1000 rows x 11 columns
- Products: 6 product lines

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 Important Note: data types

Quantitative:
● discrete (rời rạc)
● continuous (liên tục)
● interval (khoảng)
⇒ structured data

Qualitative:
● nominal (định danh)
● binary (định danh True/False)
● ordinal (thứ tự)
⇒ unstructured data
(text, category, datetime)

Source: https://www.intellspot.com/data-types/
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II. Some Common Excel Skills

Example: Sale data

UNIQUE() COUNTIF() SUMIF() SUMIFS() AVERAGEIF()

Functions

Unique-City Count Sum of Order-1 Sum of Order-2 Average

Ha Noi 273 85424.15 85424.15 312.91

Categories HCM City 517 170393.03 170393.03 329.58

Da Nang 210 67149.57 67149.57 319.76

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
1. Filtering & Sorting

Filter the data

1. Select columns
2. Home > Editing > Sort & Filter > Filter
(or Data > Sort & Filter > Filter)

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
1. Filtering & Sorting

Filter the data

Using "FILTER" function to filter a range of data based on criteria

➤Example: find transactions related

to "Apple" (in cell H2)
➤Formula:
=FILTER(A5:D20,C5:C20=H2,"")

(Note: no header included)

Reference: FILTER function | Excel

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
1. Filtering & Sorting

➤Example: find all transactions in Ha Noi

➤Formula: =FILTER(data!$A$2:$O$1001, data!C2:C1001=Sheet1!B1, "N/A")

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
1. Filtering & Sorting

Sort the data

1. Select a column or choose one cell in that column

2. Home > Editing > Sort & Filter > Sort A to Z (or Sort Z to A)
(or Data > Sort & Filter > Sort A to Z (or Sort Z to A))

Sort other columns too

Sort only the selected column

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
2. Describe & Summarize

Get unique values from a Column or Row

=UNIQUE(array, [by_col], [exactly_once])

by_col = TRUE

by_col = FALSE

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
2. Describe & Summarize

Count and Find Unique Values

=COUNTA(range or formula)
=UNIQUE(range)

Example

=COUNTA(UNIQUE(C2:C1001))

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
2. Describe & Summarize

Count number of occurrences by condition

=COUNTIF(range, criteria)

=COUNTIF(Where do you want to look?, What do you want to look for?)

Reference: COUNTIF function - Microsoft Support

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
2. Describe & Summarize

Calculating SUM of categories

=SUMIF(range, criteria, sum_range)

Reference: https://www.excel-easy.com/examples/sumif.html

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
2. Describe & Summarize

Calculating SUM of categories

=SUMIFS(sum_range, criteria_range1, criteria1, [criteria_range2, criteria2],)

Source: https://blog.hocexcel.online
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II. Some Common Excel Skills
2. Describe & Summarize

Calculating AVERAGE of categories

=AVERAGEIF(range, criteria, avg_range)

=AVERAGEIFS(avg_range, criteria_range1, criteria1, [criteria_range2, criteria2],)

Reference: https://www.excel-easy.com/examples/averageif.html
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II. Some Common Excel Skills
2. Describe & Summarize

Summarize the Value of Orders

Which ones are you

familiar with?

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
3. VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP

➤VLOOKUP is one of the most widely used Excel functions

Link (if you want to buy): https://www.amazon.ca/EXCEL-VLOOKUP-FORMULA-NINJA-Straightforward/dp/B089D35SCL

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
3. VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP

➤VLOOKUP finds values in a table or a range by row:

1. Looks up a value in a column on the left
2. Returns a value in a column to the right
(See: VLOOKUP function | Microsoft)

Source: https://www.extendoffice.com/documents/excel/6393-excel-vlookup-function.html
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II. Some Common Excel Skills
3. VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP

Syntax must be in the first column of

=VLOOKUP (lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])

If 1 or TRUE
Search for the
closest value

Source: https://www.extendoffice.com/documents/excel/6393-excel-vlookup-function.html
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II. Some Common Excel Skills
3. VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP

➤HLOOKUP is similar to VLOOKUP, but works for the horizontal direction

1. Looks in the top row of an array
2. Returns the value of cells in the below rows
(See: HLOOKUP function | Microsoft)

Example

Source: https://www.techonthenet.com/excel/formulas/hlookup.php
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II. Some Common Excel Skills
3. VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP

➤LOOKUP: a general version of both VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP

1. Look in a single row or column and find a value from the same position in a second
row or column
2. VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP are strongly recommended instead
3. VLOOKUP is a much improved version for vertical searching

(See: LOOKUP function | Microsoft)

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
3. VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP

How to look up for a value on the left column (rather on the right)?

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
3. VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP

➤XLOOKUP: If you are using Microsoft 365, use XLOOKUP

1. It is FASTER
2. It is MORE FLEXIBLE: search in any direction (up, down, left, right).
(See: XLOOKUP function | Microsoft)

=XLOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_array, return_array, [if_not_found],

[match_mode], [search_mode])

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
3. VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP

➤XLOOKUP: See: XLOOKUP function | Microsoft

=XLOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_array, return_array, [if_not_found],

[match_mode], [search_mode])

[if_not_found] Where a valid match is not found, return the [if_not_found] text you supply.
Optional If a valid match is not found, and [if_not_found] is missing, #N/A is returned.
Specify the match type:
● 0 - Exact match. If none found, return #N/A. This is the default.
[match_mode] ● -1 - Exact match. If none found, return the next smaller item.
Optional ● 1 - Exact match. If none found, return the next larger item.
● 2 - A wildcard match where *, ?, and ~ have special meaning.
Specify the search mode to use:
● 1 - Search starting at the first item. This is the default.
● -1 - Reverse search starting at the last item.
[search_mode] ● 2 - Binary search that relies on lookup_array being sorted in ascending
Optional order. If not sorted, invalid results will be returned.
● -2 - Perform a binary search that relies on lookup_array being sorted in
descending order. If not sorted, invalid results will be returned.

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
3. VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP

Look up in another sheet

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
3. VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP

Look up in another workbook (file)

⇒ Specify file-name/file-path explicitly. Example:

Reference: How to vlookup to another workbook? | ExtendOffice

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
4. PivotTable

➤"A powerful tool to calculate, summarize, and analyze data"

➤Help us quickly make comparisons, find patterns and trends.
➤A notice from Microsoft: it can be a little different in Windows, Web, and MacOS

Reference: Create a PivotTable to analyze worksheet data | Microsoft

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
4. PivotTable

Example:

➤Quickly calculate Sum, Average for different categories

➤Make a slicer for choosing filter (Female or Male)

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
4. PivotTable

Create a PivotTable:

1. Insert > PivotTable

Insert > Recommended PivotTables
2. Select data range
3. Choose location

1
3

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
4. PivotTable

Some operations:

➤Choosing Columns, Rows, Values

➤Adding Filters
➤Sorting
➤Adding slicer
fields can be
dragged and
dropped into the
corresponding
areas

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
4. PivotTable

Some operations:

➤Changing summary calculation

For example: Average

Average

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II. Some Common Excel Skills
4. PivotTable

There can be some "annoying" blank rows or columns

➤The reason is blank cells

➤Should specify the range in detail

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 Part III 1. Line (and area) chart
2. Bar (and column) chart
3. Pie (and donut) chart
4. Scatter chart

Five Basic 5. Histogram chart

6. Using Pivot Charts

Charts
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III Five Basic Charts

Data visualization: representation of data in graphical or pictorial format

Source: Matplotlib (https://matplotlib.org/)

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III Five Basic Charts

"A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words"

(since 1910s, see Wikipedia)

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpP0EbSMRpg&ab_channel=LeilaGharani

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III Five Basic Charts

Example

Source: https://boostlabs.com/blog/10-types-of-data-visualization-tools/
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III Five Basic Charts

Source: https://www.ataccama.com/platform/data-stories
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III Five Basic Charts

Bar/Column Histogram Scatter Line/Area Pie

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III Five Basic Charts
1. Line Chart & Area Chart

When to use line chart or area chart?

➤ Line charts show trends over time

➤ Area chart is similar to line chart, but the area under each line is colored (or shaded)
➤ Both are usually used when x-labels are date/time or texts

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III Five Basic Charts
1. Line Chart & Area Chart

There are several types of area charts:

➤ Normal area chart

➤ Stacked area chart: elements are added at each label point
➤ 100% stacked area chart: elements are added up to 100%

Source: https://www.exceltip.com/tips/the-area-chart-in-excel.html

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III Five Basic Charts
2. Bar Chart & Column Chart

When to use column chart or bar chart?

➤ To compare the values of different categories

➤ Column chart: uses vertical columns
➤ Bar chart: is a horizontal version of column chart
⇒ Usually used when the label is a long text
➤ Note: the order of categories is not important

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III Five Basic Charts
2. Bar Chart & Column Chart

Group bar chart/column chart: example

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III Five Basic Charts
2. Bar Chart & Column Chart

Stacked bar chart/column chart: example

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III Five Basic Charts
3. Pie Chart & Donut Chart

➤ Pie chart shows proportion of categories (slices) to a total (the pie)

➤ Donut chart is just a version of pie chart

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III Five Basic Charts
4. Scatter Chart

➤ Shows relationship between 02 variables X and Y

➤ Usually used to investigate the correlation or trend
➤ Or to discover groups

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III Five Basic Charts
4. Scatter Chart

➤ Shows relationship between 02 variables X and Y

➤ Usually used to investigate the correlation or trend
➤ Or to discover groups

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III Five Basic Charts
5. Histogram Chart

➤ Shows the distribution of (numeric) data

➤ Notes:
● Only ONE category
● The data will be divided into many
bins (sub-categories)
➤ Can show frequency or ratio (probability)

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III Five Basic Charts in Excel
6. Using PivotCharts

Adding PivotChart (1): from data table

1. Select any cell inside the data table

2. Choose Insert > PivotChart
3. Select table or range (Reference: Create a PivotChart | Microsoft )

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III Five Basic Charts in Excel
6. Using PivotCharts

Adding PivotChart (2): from an existing PivotTable

1. Select any cell inside the PivotTable

2. Choose PivotTable Analyze > PivotChart
3. Choose Chart Type
(Reference: https://www.excel-easy.com/examples/pivot-chart.html)

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III Five Basic Charts in Excel
7. Practicing

Top 10 Essential Excel Formulas for Analysts in 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeBYShlqsak&ab_channel=KenjiExplains

Master Pivot Tables in 10 Minutes (Using Real Examples)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnPVfxOTvvk&t=187s&ab_channel=KenjiExplains

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Thank you!

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