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

4: Calculate the proportion (%) of students in your cohort who are male 

• In your "calculations" worksheet, locate the appropriate cell to enter the proportion of students who are male:

• With your mouse, select the cell in which you want to enter the proportion of students who are male.
• You will need to now calculate the following formula:

=([count of males] ÷ [total n of students])

NOTE:  In Excel, "divide by" (÷) is represented using the character "/".

You can enter these counts/totals manually, or you can select the cell in which they are located as follows:

1.  In the formula bar, type:

=

click in the cell containing the count of males

this cell reference (e.g., C27) should now be written in the formula bar after the equals sign (=)

3.  click back into the formula bar and type:

/

4.  click in the cell containing the total count of students

5.  click back into the formula bar and finish the bracket:

)

• Press the Enter key on your keyboard

You have now calculated the proportion of males within your student cohort.

BUT ... often we like to present proportions as percentages (%).  To do this we need to multiply the proportion by 100.  Adding this to the original formula would look like this:

=([count of males] ÷ [total n of students]) x 100

NOTE: In Excel, "multiply by" (x) is represented using the character "*".

• Select the cell with the proportion of males in the student cohort
• In the formula bar, click at the end of the existing formula, and type:

*100

• Press the Enter key on your keyboard

You have now calculated the proportion (%) of males in your student cohort.

Now SAVE your workbook!

Did you all get the same answer?

TIME TO PRACTICE:

Using the same process as above, calculate the proportion of females within your student cohort.

How did you go?