Excel Set Visualizer
 
It is often useful to visualize data so that we can get a "feel" for how it behaves. To simplify this process, we have created a little easy-to-use data visualization tool in Microsoft Excel. We will use this tool throughout the course and preload it with relevant data. If you are familiar with Excel, then you can modify the tool to produce even more sophisticated visualizations. If you are not faamiliar with Excel, the Resources highlight at the end of this section provides links to some very good online tutorials.
 
The image below shows a Excel Set Visualizer screenshot.
 
 
In the example, the data comes from the US Weather Service www.erh.noaa.gov and represents the monthly rainfall for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2011. As you can see, for 2011 the monthly rainfall had a semi-annual cycle with peaks in April and October. The visualization tool also calculates the mean and standardization for the data set.
 
You can get access to the Excel Set visualizer spreadsheeet by clicking here.
 
Modifying the visualizer is easy. Simply type over any one of the Values cells and the graph, Mean and Standaard Deviation recalculate dynamically. If you have fewer than the twelve data points as in the example, delete an entire row in the middle of the table. If you have more than twelve data points, insert a row in the middle of the table.
 
Resources:     Excel Tutorials