Instructions - Computer Science 101 - West Virginia University

Background Information
A significant and growing problem for most Internet users is
spam e-mail, formally known as unsolicited commercial e-mail
(UCE). As of 2009, spam is estimated to comprise about 90% of
total e-mail and can include everything from sales pitches for
stocks to phishing attempts designed to steal a user’s personal
information.
Problem Statement
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Microsoft Excel I
Spam E-mail Problem
In this project, students will analyze growth trends for spam e-mail and the impact
of spam on the Internet community at large.
Project Instructions
IMPORTANT: Complete the below steps in the order they are given. Completing the
steps out of order may complicate the project or result in an incorrect result.
1. Download the following files onto your computer:
a. spamorigin.xml – Lists some of the top spam-originating countries from
July 2007 through September 2011.
Column Name Type Description
Quarter Text Quarter and year for the data.
United States Percentage Percentage of spam originating from the
United States.
Brazil Percentage Percentage of spam originating from Brazil.
Russia Percentage Percentage of spam originating from Russia.
Turkey Percentage Percentage of spam originating from Turkey.
South Korea Percentage Percentage of spam originating from South
Korea.
Romania Percentage Percentage of spam originating from
Romania.
Italy Percentage Percentage of spam originating from Italy.
b. spampercentage.xml – Indicates the percentage of total e-mail
estimated to be spam from January 2002 through September 2011.
Column Name Type Description
Quarter Text Quarter and year for the data.
Spam as
Percentage of
Total E-mail
Percentage Percentage of the total amount of e-mail
that was spam.
2. Begin by creating a new Microsoft Excel workbook named
lastname_firstname_sep.xlsx.
Introduction to Computer Applications
West Virginia University
Page 1 of 5 Version 10.5
Modified 12/16/2014

3. We must adjust the sheets in our workbook.
a. Rename Sheet1 to Spam Percentages .
b. Add a new sheet named Spam Origin .
c. Add a new sheet named Analysis Questions .
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Microsoft Excel I
Spam E-mail Problem
4. We must import the spam e-mail percentage data into the Spam Percentages
sheet.
Using the DATA ribbon, import the data from spampercentage.xml and place
it starting in cell A3. Excel will have to create a schema based on the XML
source data. The data will be imported as an XML table.
5. We wish to apply some additional formatting to the Spam Percentages sheet.
a. Insert two new table columns to the right of column B.
b. For the table, turn on the Total Row option.
c. Enter text in the cells as indicated below.
i. A1: Spam Percentage of Total E-mails - Firstname Lastname
ii.
iii.
iv.
C3: Spam Percentage Rank
D3: Change Since Previous Quarter
A43: Median
d. Merge-and-center cells A1 through D1.
e. Set the font size to 16-point for cell A1.
f. Format the table using a style of your choice other than the default table
style.
6. We need to perform some additional calculations to analyze the Spam
Percentages sheet data.
a. There is nothing to do for this step. Please proceed to the next step.
b. In column C, use the RANK() function to rank each quarter by the
percentage of total mail that was spam.
c. There is nothing to do for this step. Please proceed to the next step.
d. There is nothing to do for this step. Please proceed to the next step.
e. In cells D5 through D42, calculate the quarterly rate of change in the
percentage of total e-mail that was spam using the formula:
[Current Quarter Percentage]
(
[Previous Quarter Percentage] ) − 1
f. There is nothing to do for this step. Please proceed to the next step.
Introduction to Computer Applications
West Virginia University
Page 2 of 5 Version 10.5
Modified 12/16/2014

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Microsoft Excel I
Spam E-mail Problem
g. There is nothing to do for this step. Please proceed to the next step.
h. Since there is no quarter prior to First Quarter 2002 for comparison, in
cell D4 specify the rate of change as 0.0%.
i. We would like to summarize our spam percentage data.
i. There is nothing to do for this step. Please proceed to the next
step.
ii.
There is nothing to do for this step. Please proceed to the next
step.
iii. In the total row, individually find the medians for columns B and D.
iv. In the total row, do not display any statistics in column C.
7. We must apply additional formatting to the Spam Percentages sheet.
a. Add borders to the cells as indicated below:
i. C3 through C43: left – thick solid line
b. Format the cells as indicated below:
i. B4 through B43: percentage with 1 decimal place
ii.
iii.
C4 through C43: number with no decimal places
D4 through D43: percentage with 1 decimal place
c. AutoFit the widths of columns A through D.
d. Apply conditional formatting to the rates of change in cells D4 through
D42.
i. If the spam percentage decreased by at least 1% (≤ −0.01), change
the cell fill color to green and the text color to white.
ii.
If the spam percentage increased by at least 25% (≥ 0.25), change
the fill color to red and the text color to white.
8. We must import the spam origin data into the Spam Origin sheet.
Using the DATA ribbon, import the data from spamorigin.xml and place it
starting in cell A3. Excel will have to create a schema based on the XML
source data. The data will be imported as an XML table.
9. We also wish to apply some formatting to the Spam Origin sheet.
a. Insert one new table column to the right of column H.
b. Enter text in the cells as indicated below:
i. A1: Spam by Country of Origin
ii.
I3: Others
Introduction to Computer Applications
West Virginia University
Page 3 of 5 Version 10.5
Modified 12/16/2014

c. Merge (but do not center) cells A1 through I1.
d. Apply the Title formatting style to cell A1.
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Microsoft Excel I
Spam E-mail Problem
e. Format the table using a style of your choice other than the default table
style.
10. On the Spam Origin sheet, we wish to calculate statistics for the origin of the
spam messages.
a. In column I, write a formula to calculate the percentage of spam
originating in countries other than those in columns B through H. Your
formula must use the SUM() function.
b. There is nothing to do for this step. Please proceed to the next step.
11. We must apply additional formatting to the Spam Origin sheet.
a. Format the cells as indicated below:
i. B4 through I20: percentage with no decimal places
b. AutoFit the widths of columns A through G.
12. We need to set up the Analysis Questions sheet so that it can store responses
to the analysis questions.
a. Enter text in the cells as indicated below:
i. A1: Question Number
ii.
B1: Response
b. Bold the contents of row 1.
c. AutoFit the width of column A. Set the width of column B to 100.
d. Set the height for rows 2 through 5 to 110.
e. Change the vertical alignment setting for columns A and B so that the
text is displayed at the top of each row.
f. Turn on text wrapping for column B.
13. Beginning in cell B2 on the Analysis Questions sheet, type your answers to four
of the five below questions. Respond to one question per row and indicate
which question you are answering in column A.
a. The rate of spam as a percentage of total e-mail has been fairly stable
(around 80%-90%) since mid-2004. Why do you think the rate stabilized
rather than continuing its previous growth trend?
b. The percentage of spam originating in the United States fell by more than
half from 2004 to 2009. What reasons might have led to the decline of
U.S.-originated spam?
Introduction to Computer Applications
West Virginia University
Page 4 of 5 Version 10.5
Modified 12/16/2014

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Microsoft Excel I
Spam E-mail Problem
c. One common method of filtering for spam is to look for messages
containing certain keywords. What is one potential disadvantageous sideeffect
of this method and how could it be minimized?
d. Many spam messages originate from “zombie” computers, which are
computers infected with viruses (malicious programs) designed to send
spam. What advantages might a spammer obtain from having a network
of zombie computers?
e. Romania appeared on the list as one of the top 12 countries originating
spam messages in Third Quarter 2007 and again starting First Quarter
2010. Is there any significance to it not appearing on the list between
late 2007 and 2009?
Curriculum Information
Project Type
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
Relationship to GEC Objective 2
In this assignment, students learn how they can use formulas and functions in
Microsoft Excel to perform basic statistical and data analysis. As a part of this, they
write algebraic formulas to determine the annual rate of change. Students also
explore the relationship between sample size and percentage changes.
Relationship to GEC Objective 4
Spam e-mail has become a growing problem in the modern world. Currently over
80% of all e-mail is estimated to be junk mail, imposing significant costs upon the
average user. In this project, students explore how spam has grown, how it can be
combated, and learn more about the cost of spam.
Grading Rubric
This project is worth 50 points and will be graded based upon the following
components. The instructor may adjust the below values as he or she feels
appropriate:
Steps 3a-c 1.5 points total Steps 7d(i)-(ii) 4 points total
Step 4 2.5 points Step 8 2.5 points
Steps 5a-f 3 points total Steps 9a-e 3 points total
Steps 6a-d 5 points total Steps 10a-b 3.5 points total
Steps 6e-h 5 points total Steps 11a-b 1.5 points total
Steps 6i(i)-(iv) 3.5 points total Steps 12a-f 3 points total
Steps 7a-c 2 points total Steps 13a-e (pick 4 of 5) 2.5 points each
Introduction to Computer Applications
West Virginia University
Page 5 of 5 Version 10.5
Modified 12/16/2014