Fall Semester 2004

Chapter 1: Getting Started with Excel

1. Preface states the purpose of the book. What is it?

2. Are there limits to using Excel for teaching statistics?

3. What is StatPlus?

4. What are Concept Tutorials?

5. Can you use Windows, the mouse, can you start Excel?

6. What special files do you need for this book?

7. Where can you find them?

8. What is an Excel workbook? An Excel worksheet?

9. What is the difference between a toolbar button and a menu command in Excel?

10. What is Park.xls and how did we use it in Chapter 1?

11. How do you select a noncontiguous range (of cells)?

12. Can you move a range of cells in Excel? How?

13. Can you customize the header of a print job in Excel? How?

14. What Add-Ins is the book going to use? How do you load them?

Chapter 2: Working with Data

1. This chapter has four goals. What are they?

2. How's Tab different from Enter for data entry?

3. What is Autofill and how did we use it in Chapter 2?

4. How does Tab work when entering data in a selected range?

5. How did we use Excel's Insert in Chapter 2?

6. In one sentence how does the book define "Data Formats"?

7. Name the six dialog sheets in the "Format Cells" dialog box.

8. What is the first character in an Excel formula?

9. What is the Excel operator for exponentiation?

10. Cell G24 contains the following formula: =A3+D17. Copy this cell to J26. What does it become and why? Same question for when you copy the formula to K6.

11. In Excel a function is composed of the function name and a list of arguments. Give some examples.

12. What is Excel's "Function Wizard"? What can it do for you? Give an example.

13. Explain what the "Collapse Dialog" button is or does.

14. Same question about the "Restore Dialog" button.

15. In "Function Wizard" what category does SUM belong to?

16. What is a relative reference in an Excel formula?

17. What is an absolute reference in an Excel formula?

18. What is a mixed reference in an Excel formula and when is it useful? Give an example.

19. What is a range name? How do you create one, and what would be the advantage of using it?

20. How do you sort data in Excel?

21. Briefly describe the AutoFilter and the AdvancedFilter. How are they similar, how are they different?

22. What are two common ways in which text files are structured for importing into Excel?

23. How do you import data from Access into Excel?

Chapter 3: Working with Charts.

1. What types of charts does Chapter 3 focus on (primarily)?

2. Name a few (6-8) Excel chart types.

3. Excel charts can be placed in a workbook in two ways. Explain.

4. What does BigTen.xls contain? What is it used for in Chapter 3?

5. What is an Excel scatterplot?

6. How do you modify a chart's titles in Excel?

7. How do you remove the gridlines and legends in Excel?

8. When do you need a legend in a chart?

9. How can you edit an existing chart?

10. How do you move a chart? What can go wrong when you try to move it? How do you enlarge a chart in Excel?

11. Why do we need to edit the horizontal and vertical axes of the chart created for the Big Ten graduation case study? How do we do that?

12. What is the Major Unit of an axis and how do you change it?

13. Plot symbols and plot backgrounds: what are they? How do you change them?

14. What is the hypothesis put forward by the book when the chart is finished? Are there any exceptions to the rule the hypothesis is suggesting?

15. Why might we want to identify individual points in our charts? In this book's example do we identify any individual points in the chart? How do we do that and why do we do it?

16. What happens when you pass the mouse cursor over the data points in the Big Ten scatterplot? Is that useful? Does the information reported tell you anything? Does it tell you anything about the source of the data point?

17. Describe StatPlus's "Select Row" command. Can Excel do that?

18. How do you add labels to the chart using StatPlus? What's the effect of NOT selecting the "Link to label cells" checkbox during this process.

19. What StatPlus tips are listed on page 100?

20. Why do we decide to mark the Minnesota point in the chart for further study by changing the color of the label to boldface red, and how do we accomplish that?

21. What reason uses the book to introduce Bubble Plots?

22. How is a Bubble Plot different from a Scatterplot?

23. What's the conclusion of our exploring whether there is a graphical evidence for a certain relationship in the Big Ten case study, and what relationship were we looking for?

24. How do you change the title of a chart after the chart is finished?

25. What is the book's conclusion on the interpretation of the bubble plot? Is our original hypothesis supported or refuted?

26. How can you break a scatterplot into categories? Why would you ever want to do that? Any caveats?

27. Does the 40,000 enrollment limit sound reasonable to you in determining whether a university is large or small?

28. What is the final conclusion of the chart experiment in the book (when we only plot one variable)?

29. Why might we plot several variables in a chart and how do we do it in the book?

30. How do you edit the Legend after the chart is created?

31. What is the final conclusion of the chart experiment in the book (when we only plot several variables)? Any caveats?