Descriptive Statistics Using Excel

The steps to calculate the mean , median , mode , , standard deviation, minimum, maximum,...of sample data sets using Excel are described with an example.
Note that you need to first load the analysis toolPack in Excel if it is not loaded yet.

The following are the steps needed to calculate the statistics of two samples X and Y. You may use the same steps for one or more samples.
Step 1 - Organize the data sets in columns and use labels X and Y, for example, in the first row as shown below.


Step 2 - Press on the "Data" tab and click on "Data Analysis".


Step 3 - Select "Descriptive Statistics" and press "OK".


Step 4 - Clear "Input Range" and "Output Range".


Step 5 - Click inside "Input Range" and use the mousse to select the columns containing the data of all the samples, in this case samples X and Y including the labels X and Y.


Step 6 - Check "Labels" because you selected the labels X and Y in the last step. The labels make it easy to read your final results.


Step 7 - Follow the substeps (1) to (5) as follows:
(1) check "Output Range"
(2) click inside the small window
(3) click to select a cell
(4) check "Summary Statistics"
(5) click "OK".


Step 8 - Read and interpret results from table.
Several different statistics such as the mean, median, mode, standard deviation, ... are displayed on a table for both X and Y samples.

More References and links

1. Data Analysis in Excel
2. Load The Analysis ToolPack in Excel