Excel Data Analysis: Your Visual Blueprint for Analyzing Data, Charts, and PivotTables, 2nd Edition (Visual Blueprint) [Paperback]

Jinjer Simon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0764597809 | ISBN-13: 978-0764597800 | Edition: 2

Excel is a spreadsheet / data analysis tool attached to the Microsoft Office suite and is available in all Office offerings. Office holds 80-90% of the market share for productivity suites. Though many consumers know the basics of using Excel, they may not know the full power of the program. With Excel, you can harness the power of your data, manipulate it to suit your needs, and achieve more by doing less work. Charts are interactive, allowing the consumer to tweak results with the click of a mouse. Pivot tables allow you to fuse data from several sources into one document. Excel has an enhanced Find function, allowing users to easily search entire workbooks, and search worksheets by cell format. Excel supports XML as a file format for easy importing or exporting of XML data. Excel also includes enhancements for saving files as Web pages, and enhancements to Pivot Tables.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Excel Data Analysis 2nd Edition

Welcome to the only guidebook series that takes a visual approach to professional-level computer topics. Open the book and you'll discover step-by-step screen shots that demonstrate over 100 key Excel data analysis techniques, including:

• Creating PivotTables and PivotCharts
• Importing and linking data
• Compiling data from various sources
• Filtering a list
• Creating an amortization table
• Manipulating data within a chart
• Editing external database tables
• Using an Excel function in a macro
• Building PivotTable formulas
• Using Analysis Toolpak add-ins

• High-resolution screen shots demonstrate each task
• Succinct explanations walk you through step by step
• Two-page lessons break big topics into bite-sized modules
• "Apply It" and "Extra" sidebars highlight useful tips

About the Author

Jinjer Simon has been actively involved in the computer industry for the past 18 years. Her involvement includes programming, providing software technical support, training end-users, developing written and online user documentation, creating software tutorials, and developing Web sites. She is the author of several computer books, including Excel Programming: Your visual blueprint for creating interactive spreadsheets, and Windows CE 2 For Dummies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Visual; 2 edition (May 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764597809
• ISBN-13: 978-0764597800
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #383,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

109 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick and Dirty- but Immensely Practical, September 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Excel Data Analysis: Your Visual Blueprint for Creating and Analyzing Data, Charts and PivotTables (Paperback)

The "Read Less - Learn More" trademark on the cover encapsulates the essence of what any reader can get out of this very non-traditional software user's guide.

Although I am an MBA grad and am knowledgeable of data analysis techniques, I had always considered myself a novice user of Excel. I recently found myself in a predicament where I had to quickly learn the more complicated Excel features of data analysis in preparation for an interview for a position with a market research firm. In a panic, I went to the local B&N bookstore and bought a copy of the old stand-by Dummies Series- "Excel Data Analysis" (I'll refer to it as "DS"), as well as the book in this review (I'll refer to it as Visual Blueprint, "VB").

The thing about this book that really appealed to me was the logical and clean (uncluttered) explanation of each of the topics presented. It's a very user-friendly manual to follow along with the use of a computer (to go through the exercises).

Progressive screen-shots are always located at the bottom half of each page, in successive order from left to right with clearly labeled numbered steps to follow. The examples that are shown in the screen shots are simple but very illustrative.

On the top half of each left page is an introduction of the topic being covered and what the main processes are to accomplish the particular task. On the top half of each right page are additional methods of application and extra hints and descriptions of the syntaxes for functions that can be used.

The arrangement of the graphics and the text work very well together and allow the reader to efficiently grasp each of the concepts being presented. What would normally be covered by a traditional user's manual in five to ten pages (reading from top to bottom- large text sections interspersed by graphics), this reference does the same in either two pages or four pages maximum. The way the editors have laid out this manual was very clever; not only does the reader have a lot less pages to get lost in (especially when trying to work through the examples with a computer) but also the topics are presented concisely and as simply as possible.

I relied heavily on this book to prepare myself for an Excel test given by the company I was interviewing with. I spent at least 90% of my time referring to VB, and where necessary, I spent 10% of my time referring to DS for supplementary information. I studied over a period of one week and passed the test well enough to be hired!

As enthusiastic as I am about this book, it is far from perfect with regards to being an ultimate and comprehensive manual for Excel. (That said, however, the Appendices are full of useful information...keystroke and navigation shortcuts as well as a handy reference for VBA and function syntaxes / commands....much more than is included in DS.) Additionally, as another reviewer had written previously, I can corroborate that I had found a few minor errors (formula calculations in examples, syntaxes), but not in such a large amount as to dissuaded one from using this book. My other negative is that the examples provided on the included CD were poorly referenced in the Manual; some examples, I couldn't find on the CD. Again, this didn't happen often.

I gave this book a perfect score, not because it is an authoritative and fully comprehensive manual on Excel Data Analysis (it isn't), but because it delivers on empowering readers to learn the software in much less time than traditional manuals can deliver. VB is quick and dirty- but it works!

38 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good reference, but not for "anybody"; allow me to explain, September 20, 2003

By 

John Bull (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Excel Data Analysis: Your Visual Blueprint for Creating and Analyzing Data, Charts and PivotTables (Paperback)

First of all I have to confess that this book was acquired under the conditions that I probably know 90% of the materials covered in the book. Thus my interest is in the 10% I am not aware of and the other 10% if there are alternative ways to solve problems better than I am doing now.

In this regards, I am satisfied. However if you are looking for learning simple "how-to"s like conditional formula, creating a chart, you would be disappointed since this book covers too much depth for beginners and it becomes easy to get lost in the sea of information.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disapppointed, August 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Excel Data Analysis: Your Visual Blueprint for Creating and Analyzing Data, Charts and PivotTables (Paperback)

I picked up this book because I am preparing for the MOUS Exam and it appeared to have a different layout than the standard MS-sponsored book; I thought I might pick up an extra nugget or two. After having read through about half of the book, I can say that I am disppointed in the quality of the text. Maybe I have become too accustomed to American literary technique (Microsoft, Dummies, etc.), but in my opinion the flow is course and dry, even for a computer tutorial. Knowing approximately 75% of the content already, I sympathize with anyone picking this up for the first time.

However, the most frustrating aspect of the book by far is the errors that exist throughout the book, especially in regards to coding mistakes. With more time, I would actually list the dozen or so I have already found. Let's just say when you are explaining something "relatively" complex, like conditional formulas (hint, hint...), the coding example should be accurate, not completely opposite of the correct method. This, and many other examples, confused me so much I had to do them myself in Excel just to prove I wasn't losing my mind.

The book has great potential as an alternative to the standard MS Press release. However, when you're competing against the other guys, you have to be perfect. This book is definitely not.