A1 Introduction to Microsoft Excel
The purpose of this appendix is to introduce you to Microsoft Excel and provide enough instruction to allow you to
use Excel to produce statistical results. We suggest that you obtain an Excel instruction book to help you learn more
about the software.
The information and instructions below pertain to Office 2007 and 2010, Microsoft’s latest version.
Installing Excel
Installing Excel on your computer is easy. Simply follow the instructions in the booklet that accompanies your
edition of Microsoft Excel. In most cases you will install some edition of Office, which includes Excel, Word, and
PowerPoint, as well as several other programs.
After installing the software, keep the compact disk (CD) or diskettes handy; it is quite possible that you will need
them again.
If the screen (called a desktop) does not show a Microsoft Excel icon, click Start, Programs, and Microsoft Excel.
(Alternatively, if the desktop has an Excel icon, double-click it.) The Excel screen depicted in Figure 1 will appear.
(Unless otherwise stated, “clicking” refers to tapping the left button on your mouse. “Double-clicking” means
tapping the left button twice quickly.) The screen that appears may be slightly different, depending on which version
of Excel you have.
,Figure 1 Blank Excel Screen for Office 2010
Excel Screen
At this point the screen is blank except for the top where up to five rows or bars appear. These are the locations of
most of the commands that you will issue to Excel. Move the mouse, which in turn will move the pointer to different
positions on the screen. To select a command, position the pointer over the command, and click once.
The first row is called the Title bar. In the center you see the name of the program, Microsoft Excel. At the right
side there are three small boxes, which (moving left to right) minimize, restore, or close the Excel program. You can
see what the box does before you execute it by placing the mouse pointer over it and waiting a second before
moving or clicking. On the left side of this row you can see the Office icon. Clicking that will open a list of choices
including New, Open, Save, Print, and others.
The second row contains the following choices.
,Home Insert Page Layout Formulas Data Review View Developer
Clicking any one of these provides you with a number of other selections. Try clicking each of the options to see the
additional list. For example, click Home and you will see (among other things)
Clipboard Font Alignment Number Styles Cells Editing
For the first four you can click the arrow in the right-hand side, which will give you more choices and options.
The third row contains the commands that save, open a new worksheet, open an existing file, or several other
choices.
The fourth row displays the contents of the active cell (described below).
Excel Workbook and Worksheet
Excel files are called workbooks, which contain worksheets. A worksheet consists of rows and columns. The rows
are numbered, and letters identify the columns. The intersection of a row and column is called a cell, which is box
that can store a number, word, or formula.
If you click the Microsoft Office button and New or the New icon in the third row you will see Figure 2 (page
12). Notice that the cell in row 1 column A is active, which means that you can type in a number, word, or formula.
You can designate any cell as active by moving the mouse pointer (which now appears as a large plus sign) and
clicking. Alternatively you can use any of the four Up, Down, Left, or Right arrow keys. (These appear on your
keyboard as arrows pointing up, down, left, and right, respectively.)
, Figure 2 Blank Excel screen
At the bottom of the screen you will see the word Ready. As you begin to type something into the active cell, the
word changes to Enter. Above this word you will find the tabs Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3, the three worksheets
that comprise this workbook. You can operate on any of these as well as other sheets that may be created. To change
the worksheet, use your mouse pointer, and click the sheet you wish to move to.
Inputting Data
To input data open a new workbook. Activate the cell in the first row of the column in which you plan to type the
data. If you wish, you may type the name of the variable. For example, if you plan to type your assignment marks in
row A, you may type “Assignment Marks” in cell A1. Hit the Enter key, and cell A2 becomes active. Begin typing
