Descriptive data analysis: COUNT, SUM, AVERAGE, and other calculations

3. Opening and saving your dataset

For this introductory module in Excel, we are going to use data from a student cohort who were enrolled in a population health course in 2015 at UniSA and who form part of a study, the 1025 Study.  

Here, we're just going to download and save the 1025 Study 2015 dataset.

Tasks:

1:  Right click on the file below to save a copy of the 1025 Study, 2015 dataset (in Excel format).  You should select the "save as ..." option, and save the file to your USB drive:

arrow 1025 Cohort, 2015 dataset (.xlsx format, 95 KB)

 

2:  Open your saved copy of the dataset.  It should look something like this:

1025 data

 

You may notice that the spreadsheet doesn't quite look the same as a blank spreadsheet (coloured headings, borders, etc).  This spreadsheet has been formatted to make it easier to find where you need to be in the spreadsheet.

[Note:  Learning how to format spreadsheets (and documents in general) to make information easier for someone to read/grasp, is an important skill, so I'd encourage you to have a go at trying out your own formatting as you go through this module.]