Ms. Excel For Data Processing Manual 2023
Ms. Excel For Data Processing Manual 2023
Ms. Excel For Data Processing Manual 2023
Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 6
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7.1. Apply a Formula to Convert Degrees Minutes Seconds to Decimal Degrees in Excel
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Table of Figures
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1. Introduction
Microsoft Excel is part of the Microsoft Office suite of software products. It is a spreadsheet
that not only enables data to be stored in a tabular form i.e. rows and columns, but it also
features calculation functionalities, graphing tools, pivot tables, and so much more.
For this article, we will primarily focus on how to work with data in Excel, perform basic
checks and data cleaning, data visualization, and create dashboards.
The truth is most data has at least a few data quality problems. The data may have been
collected recently or came from an application. You’d have good reason to check its quality
before proceeding.
Data with quality issues can often operate just fine in its native application. It could be a
duplicate record that nobody ever accesses, they might not even know it's there. The other
reason is that most application data is looked at a small sliver at a time. One account or
customer at a time. Rarely does anyone export the entire dataset and look at it in aggregate.
Over time, duplicate and inaccurate records build up and are rarely purged (Inzata, 2019).
Poor data quality is the kryptonite of good reporting and credible analytics. If your data isn’t
of adequate quality, at worst you won’t be able to proceed any further. At best, others may
question your conclusions if you can’t show the right attention to data quality.
Here in this manual, we are going to cover some topics which is useful for data processing
in Microsoft Excel beside that in the last part of this manual we will follow up on methods of
converting Geographical coordinate to each other using Excel formula.
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2. Data Validation
In Microsoft Excel, the data validation feature helps you control what can be entered in your
worksheet (Easy, 2023). For example, you can:
1. On the second sheet, type the items you want to appear in the drop-down list.
Note: if you don't want users to access the items on Sheet2, you can hide Sheet2. To
achieve this, right-click on the sheet tab of Sheet2 and click on Hide.
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6. Click OK.
Note: to copy/paste a drop-down list, select the cell with the drop-down list and press
CTRL + c, select another cell and press CTRL + v.
7. You can also type the items directly into the Source box, instead of using a range
reference.
Note: this makes your drop-down list case sensitive. For example, if a user types yes, an
error alert will be displayed.
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1. First, if you type a value that is not in the list, Excel shows an error alert.
2. On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Data Validation.
3. On the Error Alert tab, uncheck 'Show error alert after invalid data is entered'.
4. Click OK.
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4. To remove an item from a drop-down list, at step 2, click Delete, select "Shift cells
up" and click OK.
6. Click OK.
7. On the second sheet, simply add a new item to the end of the list.
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Note: to remove all other drop-down lists with the same settings, check "Apply these
changes to all other cells with the same settings" before you click on Clear All.
5. Click OK.
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- For example, if the user selects Kabul from a first drop-down list.
- A second drop-down list contains the districts items.
- But if the user selects Balkh from the first drop-down list, the second drop-
down list contains the Balkh districts.
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Result:
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A solution suggested for this problem is called “data deduplication”. This is a blend of human
insight, data processing, and algorithms to help identify potential duplicates based on
likelihood scores and common sense to identify where records look like a close match (Easy,
2023).
4. In the Formula box, enter the formula shown below and click OK.
=COUNTIF($A$1:$A$29,A2) = 1
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As you can see, this function counts the number of values in the range A2:A20 that are equal
to the value in cell A3. Again, this value may only occur once (=1) since we don't want duplicate
entries.
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Result. Excel shows an error alert. You've already entered that invoice number.
Note: to enter an input message and error alert message, go to the Input Message and Error Alert
tab.
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Note: select Unique from the first drop-down list to highlight the unique names.
4.3. Triplicates
By default, Excel highlights duplicates (Juliet, Delta), triplicates (Sierra), etc. (see previous
image). Execute the following steps to highlight triplicates only.
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Note: you can use any formula you like. For example, use this formula
=COUNTIF($A$1:$C$10,A1)>3 to highlight names that occur more than 3 times.
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2. On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Remove Duplicates.
Result. Excel removes all identical rows (blue) except for the first identical row found
(yellow).
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To remove rows with the same values in certain columns, execute the following steps.
4. For example, remove rows with the same Last Name and Country.
5. Check Last Name and Country and click OK.
Result. Excel removes all rows with the same Last Name and Country (blue) except for the
first instances found (yellow).
Let's look at one more cool Excel feature that removes duplicates. You can use the Advanced
Filter to extract unique rows (or unique values in a column).
7. On the Data tab, in the Sort & Filter group, click Advanced.
8. The Advanced Filter dialog box appears.
9. Click Copy to another location.
10. Click in the List range box and select the range A1:A17 (see images below).
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11. 9. Click in the Copy to box and select cell F1 (see images below).
12. 10. Check Unique records only.
13. Click OK.
Result. Excel removes all duplicate last names and sends the result to column F.
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Result. Excel highlights the cells that are greater than 80.
Note: you can also use this category (see step 3) to highlight cells that are less than a value,
between two values, equal to a value, cells that contain specific text, dates (today, last week,
next month, etc.), duplicates or unique values.
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5.3. Top/Bottom
To highlight cells that are above average, execute the following steps.
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Result. Excel calculates the average (42.5) and formats the cells that are above this
average.
Note: you can also use this category (see step 3) to highlight the top n items, the top n
percent, the bottom n items, the bottom n percent, or cells that are below average.
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Explanation: always write the formula for the upper-left cell in the selected range. Excel
automatically copies the formula to the other cells. Thus, cell A2 contains the formula
=ISODD(A2), cell A3 contains the formula =ISODD(A3), etc.
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Explanation: we fixed the reference to column C by placing a $ symbol in front of the column
letter ($C2). As a result, cell B2, C2 and cell D2 also contain the formula =$C2="USA", cell A3,
B3, C3 and D3 contain the formula =$C3="USA", etc.
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1- First, take a dataset that includes several columns including decimal degrees,
minutes, seconds, and degrees.
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6- Then, the Convert Text to Column Wizard dialog box will appear where you need to
finish 3 steps.
7- In the first step, select the Fixed
Width option.
8- Then, select Next.
1
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9- In the 2nd step, click on the point after 34. It will create a line.
10- Then, select Next.
11- In the third step, you will see the numbers before the line turns black.
12- Then, click on Finish.
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15- There we have the degrees from the decimal degrees. See the screenshot.
16- Remove the available date from Column D.
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32- Then, the Convert Text to Column Wizard dialog box will appear where you need to
finish 3 steps.
33- In the first step, select the Fixed Width option.
34- Then, select Next.
35- In the 2nd step, click on the point after 32. It will create a line.
36- Then, select Next.
37- In the third step, you will see the numbers before the line turns black.
38- Then, click on Finish.
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35, 36
33, 34
37, 38
39- There we have the Minutes from the decimal degrees. See the screenshot.
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40- There we have the Minutes from the decimal degrees. See the screenshot.
41- Then, create a new column beside the Minutes column.
42-After that, cut the values from the Seconds column and paste them into the newly
created Fraction column.
47- This is the required conversion of decimal coordinates to degrees minutes and seconds
in Excel.
48- Delete Fraction column from the table.
49- Do the same process to convert Longitude DD to DMS.
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1- First, copy the degree (°) from data for next step use.
2- Select the cells you want to convert.
3- Click on the Data menu.
4- Then, select the Text to Columns.
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Therefore, you see that degrees are separated, and the symbols are removed.
10- To remove the minutes (’) and Seconds (“) symbols, repeat the previous steps after
copying the minutes (’) (“).
11- Simply, paste the minutes (’) (“) symbols in the box.
12- Then, click on Next.
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Minutes Seconds
As a result, the degrees will be separated into degrees, minutes, and seconds without the
symbols.
14- Type the formula in cell F5 to convert the degrees, minutes, and seconds into decimal
degrees. (=C2+D2/60+E2/3600).
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8. References
1. Demy, E. (2022). ExcelDemy.com.
4. Inzata, A. (2019). The Ultimate Guid to Ms. Excel for Data Processing. DSM Media.
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www.immap.org
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