11.08.2013 Views

Excel's Formula - sisman

Excel's Formula - sisman

Excel's Formula - sisman

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

196<br />

Part II: Using Functions in Your <strong>Formula</strong>s<br />

Range D1:D12 contains the following array formula:<br />

{=1/C1:C12}<br />

This array consists of each value in the array in range C1:C12, divided into 1. For example, each cell<br />

in the original Data range that contains a 200 has a value of 0.5 in the corresponding cell in<br />

D1:D12.<br />

Summing the range D1:D12 gives the number of unique items in Data. The array formula presented<br />

at the beginning of this section essentially creates the array that occupies D1:D12 and<br />

sums the values.<br />

This formula has a serious limitation: If the range contains any blank cells, it returns an error. The<br />

following array formula solves this problem:<br />

{=SUM(IF(COUNTIF(Data,Data)=0,””,1/COUNTIF(Data,Data)))}<br />

To create an array formula that returns a list of unique items in a range, refer to<br />

Chapter 15.<br />

Creating a frequency distribution<br />

A frequency distribution basically comprises a summary table that shows the frequency of each<br />

value in a range. For example, an instructor may create a frequency distribution of test scores.<br />

The table would show the count of As, Bs, Cs, and so on. Excel provides a number of ways to create<br />

frequency distributions. You can<br />

Use the FREQUENCY function.<br />

Create your own formulas.<br />

Use the Analysis ToolPak add-in.<br />

Use a pivot table.<br />

The frequency distribution.xlsx workbook that demonstrates these four techniques<br />

appears on the companion CD-ROM.<br />

The FREQUENCY function<br />

The first method that I discuss uses Excel’s FREQUENCY function. This function always returns an<br />

array, so you must use it in an array formula entered into a multicell range.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!