Statistics using Excel

2010

Tsagris Michail
mtsagris@yahoo.gr

Athens, Nottingham and Abu Halifa 2014

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Table of Contents
1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 Data Analysis toolpack ....................................................................................................................... 4
2.2 Descriptive Statistics .......................................................................................................................... 6
2.3 Z-test for two samples ....................................................................................................................... 8
2.4 t-test for two samples assuming unequal variances ........................................................................... 9
2.5 t-test for two samples assuming equal variances ............................................................................. 10
2.6 F-test for the equality of variances ................................................................................................... 11
2.7 Paired t-test for two samples ........................................................................................................... 12
2.8 Ranks, Percentiles, Sampling, Random Numbers Generation ........................................................... 13
2.9 Covariance, Correlation, Linear Regression ...................................................................................... 15
2.10 One-way Analysis of Variance ........................................................................................................ 19
2.11 Two-way Analysis of Variance with replication ............................................................................... 20
2.12 Two-way Analysis of Variance without replication ......................................................................... 23
2.13 Statistical functions ........................................................................................................................ 24
3.1 The Solver add-in ............................................................................................................................. 27

1.1 Introduction
One of the reasons for which these notes were written was to help students and not only to
perform some statistical analyses without having to use statistical software such as R, SPSS, and
Minitab etc. It is reasonable not to expect that excel offers much of the options for analyses
offered by statistical packages but it is in a good level nonetheless.
The areas covered by these notes are: descriptive statistics, z-test for two samples, ttest for two samples assuming (un)equal variances, paired t-test for two samples, F-test for
the equality of variances of two samples, ranks and percentiles, sampling (random and
periodic, or systematic), random numbers generation, Pearsons correlation coefficient,
covariance, linear regression, one-way ANOA, two-way ANOVA with and without
replication and the moving average.
We will also demonstrate the use of non-parametric statistics in Excel for some of the
previously mentioned techniques. Furthermore, informal comparisons with the results provided
by the Excel and the ones provided by SPSS and some other packages will be carried out to see
for any discrepancies between Excel and SPSS. One thing that is worthy to mention before
somebody goes through these notes is that they do not contain the theory underlying the
techniques used. These notes show how to cope with statistics using Excel.
The first edition was in May 2008. In the second edition (July 2012) we added the solver
library. This allows us to perform linear numerical optimization (maximization/minimization)
with or without linear constraints. It also offers the possibility to solve a system of equations
again with or without linear constraints. I am grateful to Vassilis Vrysagotis (teaching fellow at
the Technological Educational Institute of Chalkis,) for his contribution. This third edition
(November 2014) uses Excel 2010 (upgrading, even in 2014).
Any mistakes you find, or disagree with something stated here or anything else you want
to ask, please send me an e-mail. For more statistical resources the reader is addressed to
statlink.tripod.com.

2.1 Data Analysis toolpack

If the Excel does not offer you options for statistical analyses you can add this option very easily.
Just click on the File on the top left and a list will appear. From the list menu you select Options
and picture 1 will appear on the screen.

Picture 1
Select add-Ins from the list on the left and the window of Picture 2 will appear. In this window
(Picture 2) press Go to move on to the window of Picture 3 where you select the two options
as I did in Picture 3. If you go to the tab Data in Excel you will see the Data analysis and Solver
libraries added (Picture 4). The solver we will need it later. The good thing is that we only have
to do this once, not every time we open the computer.

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4
By pressing Data analysis (see picture 4) the window of Picture 5 will appear.

Picture 5

2.2 Descriptive Statistics

The data used in most of the examples the cars data taken from R. This data set contains
information about the speed and distance covered until the automobile is stopped, of 50 cars. In
the two previous versions of this document I was using the cars data (cars.sav) from SPSS.
Unfortunately, I do not have these data anymore.
The road will always be the same, click on Data in the tools bar and from there choose
Data Analysis. The dialogue box of picture 5 appears on the screen. We Select Descriptive
Statistics and click OK and we are lead to the dialogue box of picture 6. In the Input Range
white box we specified the data, ranging from cell 2 to cell 51 all in one column. If the first row
contained label we could just define it by clicking that option. We also clicked two of the last
four options (Summary statistics, Confidence Level for Mean). As you can see the default
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value for the confidence level is 95%. In other words the confidence level is set to the usual
95%. The results produced by Excel are provided in table 1.

Picture 6
Column1
Mean
Standard Error
Median
Mode
Standard Deviation
Sample Variance
Kurtosis
Skewness
Range
Minimum
Maximum
Sum
Count
Confidence
Level(95.0%)

15.4
0.74778585
15
20
5.28764444
27.9591837
0.50899442
0.11750986
21
4
25
770
50
1.50273192

Table 1: Descriptive statistics for the speed of cars.

The results are pretty much the same as should be. There are only some really slight differences
with regard to the rounding in the results of SPSS but of no importance. The number of
observations is 406 as we expected. If there are missing values, the value in count will be less
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than the number of rows we selected. The sample variances differ slightly but it is really not a
problem. SPSS calculates a 95% confidence interval for the true mean whereas Excel provides
only the quantity used to calculate the 95% confidence interval. The construction of this interval
is really straightforward. Subtract this quantity from the mean to get the lower limit and add it to
the mean to get the upper limit of the 95% confidence interval. So it is (mean-conf.level,
mean+conf.level)=(15.4-1.50273192, 15.4+1.50273192)=(13.89727, 16.90273).

2.3 Z-test for two samples

The statistical packages known to the writer do not offer the z-test for two independent samples.
The results are pretty much the same with the case of the t test for two independent samples. The
difference between the two tests is that apart from the normality assumption the z test assumes
that we know the true variances of the two samples. We used data generated from two normal
distributions with mean equal to zero for both population but different variances. Due to the
limited options offered by Excel we cannot test the normality hypothesis of the data (this is also
a problem met in the latter cases). Following the previously mentioned path and selecting the Z
test for two samples from the dialogue box of picture 4 the dialogue box of picture 7 appears on
the screen. The first column contains the data of the first sample of size 20 while the second
column is of size 30. I split the speed data in two groups, the first 20 observations and the other
30.

Picture 7
We selected the hypothesized mean difference to be zero and filled the white boxes of the
variances with the variances. In order to perform the z-test we must know the variance of each
population from which the sample came from. Since we do not have this information, we put the
sample variances for illustration purposes. The value of the z-statistic, the critical values and the
p-values for the one-sided and two-sided tests are provided. The results, provided in Table 2, are
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the same with the ones generated by R. Both of the p-values are equal to zero, indicating that the
mean difference of the two populations from which the data were drawn, is statistically
significant at an alpha equal to 0.05.
z-Test: Two Sample for Means

Mean
Known Variance
Observations
Hypothesized Mean Difference
z
P(Z<=z) one-tail
z Critical one-tail
P(Z<=z) two-tail
z Critical two-tail

Variable 1
Variable 2
10.25 18.83333333
8.618421
11.1092
20
30
0
9.589103286
0
1.644853627
0
1.959963985

Table 2: Z-test.

2.4 t-test for two samples assuming unequal variances

The theory states that when the variances of the two independent populations are not known
(which is usually the case) we have to estimated them. The use of t-test is suggested in this case
(but still the normality hypothesis has to be met unless the sample size is large). There are two
approaches in this case; the one when we assume the variance to be equal and the one we cannot
assume that. We will deal with the latter case now.
We used the same data set as before and we suppose that the variances cannot be
assumed to be equal. We will see the test for the equality of two variances later. Selecting the ttest assuming unequal variances from the dialogue box of picture 4 the dialogue box of picture 8
appears on the screen. The results generated from SPSS are the same except for some rounding
differences. In case you forget to set the hypothesized mean difference equal to 0, excel will use
by default this number.

Picture 8
t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Unequal Variances

Mean
Variance
Observations
Hypothesized Mean Difference
df
t Stat
P(T<=t) one-tail
t Critical one-tail
P(T<=t) two-tail
t Critical two-tail

Variable 1
Variable 2
10.25 18.83333333
8.618421053 11.1091954
20
30
0
44
9.589104187
1.19886E-12
1.680229977
2.39773E-12
2.015367574

Table 3: t-test assuming unequal variances.

2.5 t-test for two samples assuming equal variances

We will perform the same test assuming that the equality of variances holds true. The dialogue
box for this test following the famous path is that of picture 9.
The results are the same with the ones provided by SPSS. What is worthy to mention and
to pay attention is that the degrees of freedom (df) for this case are equal to 178, whereas in the
previous case were equal to 96. Also the t-statistics is slightly different. The reason it that
different kind of formulae are used in these two cases.

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Picture 9
t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances

Mean
Variance
Observations
Pooled Variance
Hypothesized Mean Difference
df
t Stat
P(T<=t) one-tail
t Critical one-tail
P(T<=t) two-tail
t Critical two-tail

Variable 1
Variable 2
10.25 18.83333333
8.618421053 11.1091954
20
30
10.12326389
0
48
-9.34515099
1.10835E-12
1.677224196
2.2167E-12
2.010634758

Table 4: t-test assuming equal variances.

2.6 F-test for the equality of variances

We will now see how to test the hypothesis of the equality of variances. The dialogue box of
picture 10 appears in the usual way by selecting the F-test from the dialogue box of picture 4.
The results are the same with the ones provided by R. The p-value is equal to zero indicating that
there is evidence to reject the assumption of equality of the variance of the two samples at an
alpha equal with 0.05.

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Picture 10
F-Test Two-Sample for Variances

Mean
Variance
Observations
df
F
P(F<=f) one-tail
F Critical one-tail

Variable 1
Variable 2
10.25 18.83333333
8.618421053 11.1091954
20
30
19
29
0.775791652
0.285474981
0.481414106

Table 5: F-test for the equality of variances.

2.7 Paired t-test for two samples

Suppose that you are interested in testing the equality of two means, but the two samples (or the
two populations) are not independent. For instance, when the data refer to the same people
before and after a diet program. The dialogue box of picture 11 refers to this test. The results
provided at table 6 are the same with the ones generated from SPSS. We can also see that the
Pearsons correlation coefficient is calculated.

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Picture 11
t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

Mean
Variance
Observations
Pearson Correlation
Hypothesized Mean Difference
df
t Stat
P(T<=t) one-tail
t Critical one-tail
P(T<=t) two-tail
t Critical two-tail

Variable 1
Variable 2
10.25
16.95
8.618421053 3.944736842
20
20
0.941021597
0
19
-23.76638508
6.77131E-16
1.729132812
1.35426E-15
2.093024054

Table 6: Paired t-test.

2.8 Ranks, Percentiles, Sampling, Random Numbers Generation

The dialogue box for the Ranks and Percentiles is the one of picture 12. The use of this option
is to assign a rank and a percentage at each number. The rank refers to the relative order of the
number, i.e. rank 1 is assigned to the highest value; rank 2 to the second highest and so on. The
percentages are of the same use.

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Picture 12
The dialogue box of the sampling option is the one in the picture 13. Two sampling
schemes are available, of the systematic (periodic) and of the random sampling. In the first
case you insert a number (period), lets say 5, means that the first value of the sample will be the
number in that row (5th row) and all the rest values of the sample will be the ones of the 10th,
the 15th, the 20th rows and so on. With the random sampling method, you state the sample size
and Excel does the rest. If you specify a number in the second option of the sampling method,
say 30, then a sample of size 30 will be selected from the column specified in the first box.

Picture 13
If you are interested in a random sample from a known distribution then the random
numbers generation is the option you want to use. Unfortunately not many distributions are
offered. The dialogue box of this option is at picture 14. In the number of variables you can
select how many samples you want to be drawn from the specific distribution. The white box
below is used to define the sample size. The distributions offered are Uniform, Normal,
Bernoulli, Binomial, and Poisson. Two more options are also allowed. Different distributions
require different parameters to be defined.

14

Picture 14
The random seed is an option used to give the sampling algorithm a starting value but can
be left blank as well. If we specify a number, say 1234, then the next time we want to generate
another sample, if we put the same random seed again we will get the same sample. The number
of variables allows to generate more than one samples.

2.9 Covariance, Correlation, Linear Regression

The covariance and correlation of two variables or two columns containing data is very easy to
calculate. The dialogue box of correlation and covariance are the same. For the correlation
matrix from the dialogue box of picture 4 we select correlation.

Picture 15

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Column 1
Column 2

Column 1
1
0.941022

Column 2
1

Table 7: Correlation matrix.

The above table is called the correlation matrix. The dialogue box of the linear regression
option is presented at picture 16. We fill the white boxes with the columns that represent Y and
X values. The X values can contain more than one column (i.e. variable). We have to note that if
one value is missing in any column the function will not be calculated. This function requires
that all columns have the same number of values. Thus, if one or more columns have missing
values we have to delete these rows from all columns before running the regression.
We select the confidence interval option. We also select the Residual Plots, Line Fit
Plots and Normal Probability Plots. The option Constant is Zero is left un-clicked. We want
the constant to be in the regression line regardless of its statistical significance. By pressing OK,
the result appears in table 8.

Picture 16

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SUMMARY OUTPUT
Regression Statistics
Multiple R
0.941021597
R Square
0.885521645
Adjusted R
Square
0.879161737
Standard Error
0.690416648
Observations
20
ANOVA
df
Regression
Residual
Total

1
18
19

Intercept
X Variable 1

Coefficients
10.42442748
0.636641221

SS
MS
F
66.36984733 66.36984733 139.2349644
8.580152672 0.476675148
74.95
Standard Error
t Stat
0.574168954 18.15567944
0.053953621 11.79978663

Significance
F
6.6133E-10

P-value
Lower 95%
Upper 95%
5.08222E-13 9.21814327 11.6307117
6.6133E-10 0.523288869 0.74999357

Table 8: Analysis of variance table for the regression.

The multiple R is the Pearson correlation coefficient, whereas the R Square is called
coefficient of determination and it is a quantity that measures the fitting of the model. It shows
the proportion of variability of the data explained by the linear model. The model is
Y=10.4144+0.6366*X. The adjusted R Square is the coefficient of determination adjusted for
the degrees of freedom of the model; this is a penalty of the coefficient. The p-value of the
constant provides evidence to claim that the constant is not statistical significant and therefore it
should be removed from the model. So, if we run the regression again we will just click on
Constant is Zero, right? No, even if the constant is not significant, we still keep it in the model.
Why? Because, the residuals will not sum to zero. So, do not look at the significance of the
constant. Does it really matter if its zero or not? Does it affect the outcome? The point is to see
the significance of the coefficients of the independent variables, not of the constant. Try fitting
the regression line with a zero constant and check the plot of Figure 2 then and compare.
The results are the same generated by SPSS except for some slight differences due to
roundings. The disadvantage of Excel is that it offers no normality test. The two plots also
constructed by Excel are presented.

17

X Variable 1 Line Fit Plot

20

15
10

Y
Predicted Y

5
0
0

10

15

X Variable 1

Figure 1: Scatter plot of X and Y & predicted Y.

X Variable 1 Residual Plot

1.2
Residuals

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0

X Variable 1

Figure 2: Residuals versus predicted values

The first figure is a scatter plot of the data, the X values versus the Y values and the
predicted Y values. The linear relation between the two variables is obvious through the graph.
Do not forget that the correlation coefficient exhibited a high value.
Excel produced also the residuals and the predicted values in the same sheet. We shall
construct a scatter plot of these two values, in order to check (graphically) the assumption of
homoscedasticity (i.e. constant variance through the residuals). If the assumption of
heteroscedasticity of the residuals holds true, then we should see all the values within a
bandwidth. We see that almost all values fall within -1.5 and 1.5. It seems like the variance is not
constant since there is seems to be evidence of a pattern. This means that the residuals do not
exhibit constant variance. But then again, we only have 30 points, so our eyes could be wrong. If
we are not sure about the validity of the assumption we can transform the Y values using a log
transformation and run the regression using the transformed Y values.
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The Normal Probability Plot is used to check the normality of the residuals graphically.
Should the residuals follow the normal distribution, then the graph should be a straight line.
Unfortunately many times the eye is not the best judge of things. The Kolmogorov Smirnov test
conducted in SPSS provided evidence to support the normality hypothesis of the residuals.

Normal Probability Plot

1.2
1

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

Sample Percentile

Figure 2: Normal probability plot of the residuals.

2.10 One-way Analysis of Variance

The one-way analysis of variance is just the generalization of the two independent samples t-test.
The assumptions the must be met in order for the results to be valid are more or less the same as
in the linear regression case. It is a fact that analysis of variance and linear regression are two
equivalent techniques. The Excel produces the analysis of variance table but offers no options to
check the assumptions of the model. The dialogue box of the one way analysis of variance is
shown at picture 17. As in the t-test cases the values of the independent variable are entered in
Excel in different columns according to the factor. In our example we have three levels of the
factor, therefore we have three columns. After defining the range of data in the dialogue box of
picture 17, we click OK and the results follow.

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Picture 17
Anova: Single Factor
SUMMARY
Groups
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3

ANOVA
Source of Variation
Between Groups
Within Groups
Total

Count
15
12
23

SS
907.9652
462.0348
1370

Sum
Average Variance
139 9.266667 7.495238
188 15.66667 1.878788
443 19.26087 15.29249

df

MS
2 453.9826
47 9.830527

F
46.1809

P-value
F crit
8.07E12 3.195056

49

Table 9: The one-way analysis of variance

The results generated by SPSS are very close with the results shown above. There is
some difference in the sums of squares, but rather of small importance. The mean square values
(MS) are very close with one another. Yet, by no means can we assume that the above results
hold true since Excel does not offer options for assumptions checking.

2.11 Two-way Analysis of Variance with replication

In the previous paragraph, we saw the case when we have one factor affecting the dependent
variable. Now, we will see what happens when we have two factors affecting the dependent
variable. This is called the factorial design with two factors or two-way analysis of variance. At
20

first, we must enter the data in the correct way. The proper way of data entry follows (the data
refer to the cars measurements). As you can see, we have three columns of data representing the
three levels of the one factor and the first columns contains only three words, C1, C2 and C3.
This first column states the two levels of the second factor. We used the R1, and R2 to define the
number of the rows representing the sample sizes of each combination of the two factors. In
other words the first combination the two factors are the cells from B2 to B6. This means that
each combination of factors has 5 measurements.

Picture 18
From the dialogue box of picture 4, we select Anova: Two-Factor with replication and the
dialogue box to appear is shown at picture 19.

Picture 19

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We filled the two blank white boxes with the input range and Rows per sample. The alpha is at
its usual value, equal to 0.05. By pressing OK the results are presented overleaf. The results
generated by SPSS are the same. At the bottom of the table 10 there are three p-values; two pvalues for the two factors and one p-value for the interaction. The row factor is denoted as
sample in Excel.
A limitation of this analysis when performed in Excel is that the sample sizes in each
combination of column and rows (the two factors) must be equal. In other words, the design has
to be balanced, the same number of values everywhere.
Anova: Two-Factor With
Replication
SUMMARY

C1

C2

C3

Total

S1

Count
Sum
Average
Variance

5
31
6.2
4.7

5
48
9.6
60.8

5
58
11.6
0.3

15
137
9.133333
24.12381

5
75
15
62

5
130
26
34

5
73
14.6
9.3

15
278
18.53333
59.98095

S2

Count
Sum
Average
Variance
Total

Count
Sum
Average
Variance

10
10
10
106
178
131
10.6
17.8
13.1
51.15556 116.8444 6.766667

ANOVA
Source of Variation
Sample
Columns
Interaction
Within
Total

SS
662.7
267.2667
225.8
684.4
1840.167

df
1
2
2
24
29

MS
662.7
133.6333
112.9
28.51667

F
P-value
23.23904 6.55E-05
4.686148 0.019138
3.959088 0.032665

F crit
4.259677
3.402826
3.402826

Table 10: The table of the two-way analysis of variance with replication.

22

2.12 Two-way Analysis of Variance without replication

We will now see another case of the two-way ANOVA when each combination of factors has
only one measurement. In this case we need not enter the data as in the previous case in which
the labels were necessary. We will use only the three first three rows of the data.
We still have two factors except for the fact that each combination contains one
measurement. From the dialogue box of picture 4, we select Anova: Two-Factor without
replication and the dialogue box to appear is shown at picture 20. The only thing we did was to
define the Input Range and pressed OK. The results are presented in table 11. What is necessary
for this analysis is that there no interaction is present. The results are the same with the ones
provided by SPSS, so we conclude once again that Excel works fine with statistical analysis. The
disadvantage of Excel is once again that it provides no formulas for examining the residuals in
the case of analysis of variance.

Picture 20
Anova: Two-Factor Without Replication
SUMMARY
Row 1
Row 2
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3

Count
3
3
2
2
2

Sum
Average Variance
17 5.666667 22.33333
25 8.333333 14.33333
8
4
0
12
6
32
22
11
0

ANOVA
Source of Variation
Rows
Columns
Error
Total

SS
10.66667
52
21.33333
84

df

MS
1 10.66667
2
26
2 10.66667
5

P-value
1 0.42265
2.4375 0.290909

F crit
18.51282
19

Table 11: The table of the two-way analysis of variance without replication.
23

2.13 Statistical functions

Before showing how to find statistical measures using the statistical functions available
from Excel under the Insert Function option let us see which are these.

AVEDEV calculates the average of the absolute deviations of the data from their
mean.
AVERAGE is the mean value of all data points.
AVERAGEA calculates the mean allowing for text values of FALSE (evaluated
as 0) and TRUE (evaluated as 1).
BETADIST calculates the cumulative beta probability density function.
BETAINV calculates the inverse of the cumulative beta probability density
function.
BINOMDIST determines the probability that a set number of true/false trials,
where each trial has a consistent chance of generating a true or false result, will
result in exactly a specified number of successes (for example, the probability that
exactly four out of eight coin flips will end up heads).
CHIDIST calculates the one-tailed probability of the chi-squared distribution.
CHIINV calculates the inverse of the one-tailed probability of the chi-squared.
Distribution.
CHITEST calculates the result of the test for independence: the value from the
chi-square distribution for the statistics and the appropriate degrees of freedom.
CONFIDENCE returns a value you can use to construct a confidence interval for
a population mean.
CORREL returns the correlation coefficient between two data sets.
COVAR calculates the covariance of two data sets. Mathematically, it is the
multiplication of the correlation coefficient with the standard deviations of the
two data sets.
CRITBINOM determines when the number of failures in a series of true/false
trials exceeds a criterion (for example, more than 5 percent of light bulbs in a
production run fail to light).
DEVSQ calculates the sum of squares of deviations of data points from their
sample mean. The derivation of standard deviation is very straightforward, simply
dividing by the sample size or by the sample size decreased by one to get the
unbiased estimator of the true standard deviation.
EXPODIST returns the exponential distribution
FDIST calculates the F probability distribution (degree of diversity) for two data
sets.
FINV returns the inverse of the F probability distribution.
FISHER calculates the Fisher transformation.
FISHERINV returns the inverse of the Fisher transformation.
FORECAST calculates a future value along a linear trend based on an existing
time series of values.
FREQUENCY calculates how often values occur within a range of values and
then returns a vertical array of numbers having one or more elements than Bins_array.
24

FTEST returns the result of the one-tailed test that the variances of two data sets
are not significantly different.
GAMMADIST calculates the gamma distribution.
GAMMAINV returns the inverse of the gamma distribution.
GAMMALN calculates the natural logarithm of the gamma distribution.
GEOMEAN calculates the geometric mean.
GROWTH predicts the exponential growth of a data series.
HARMEAN calculates the harmonic mean.
HYPGEOMDIST returns the probability of selecting an exact number of a single
type of item from a mixed set of objects. For example, a jar holds 20 marbles, 6 of
which are red. If you choose three marbles, what is the probability you will pick
exactly one red marble?
INTERCEPT calculates the point at which a line will intersect the y-axis.
KURT calculates the kurtosis of a data set.
LARGE returns the k-th largest value in a data set.
LINEST generates a line that best fits a data set by generating a two dimensional
array of values to describe the line.
LOGEST generates a curve that best fits a data set by generating a two
dimensional array of values to describe the curve.
LOGINV returns the inverse logarithm of a value in a distribution.
LOGNORMDIST Returns the number of standard deviations a value is away
from the mean in a lognormal distribution.
MAX returns the largest value in a data set (ignore logical values and text).
MAXA returns the largest value in a set of data (does not ignore logical values
and text).
MEDIAN returns the median of a data set.
MIN returns the largest value in a data set (ignore logical values and text).
MINA returns the largest value in a data set (does not ignore logical values and
text).
MODE returns the most frequently occurring values in an array or range of data.
NEGBINOMDIST returns the probability that there will be a given number of
failures before a given number of successes in a binomial distribution.
NORMDIST returns the number of standard deviations a value is away from the
mean in a normal distribution.
NORMINV returns a value that reflects the probability a random value selected
from a distribution will be above it in the distribution.
NORMSDIST returns a standard normal distribution, with a mean of 0 and a
standard deviation of 1.
NORMSINV returns a value that reflects the probability a random value selected
from the standard normal distribution will be above it in the distribution.
PEARSON returns a value that reflects the strength of the linear relationship
between two data sets.
PERCENTILE returns the k-th percentile of values in a range.
PERCENTRANK returns the rank of a value in a data set as a percentage of the
data set.
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PERMUT calculates the number of permutations for a given number of objects

that can be selected from the total objects.
POISSON returns the probability of a number of events happening, given the
Poisson distribution of events.
PROB calculates the probability that values in a range are between two limits or
equal to a lower limit.
QUARTILE returns the quartile of a data set.
RANK calculates the rank of a number in a list of numbers: its size relative to
other values in the list.
RSQ calculates the square of the Pearson correlation coefficient (also met as
coefficient of determination in the case of linear regression).
SKEW returns the skewness of a data set (the degree of asymmetry of a
distribution around its mean).
SLOPE returns the slope of a line.
SMALL returns the k-th smallest values in a data set.
STANDARDIZE calculates the normalized values of a data set (each value minus
the mean and then divided by the standard deviation).
STDEV estimates the standard deviation of a numerical data set based on a
sample of the data.
STDEVA estimates the standard deviation of a data set (which can include text
and true/false values) based on a sample of the data.
STDEVP calculates the standard deviation of a numerical data set.
STDEVPA calculates the standard deviation of a data set (which can include text
and true/false values).
STEYX returns the predicted standard error for the y value for each x value in
regression.
TDIST returns the Students t distribution
TINV returns a t value based on a stated probability and degrees of freedom.
TREND Returns values along a trend line.
TRIMMEAN calculates the mean of a data set having excluded a percentage of
the upper and lower values.
TTEST returns the probability associated with a Students t distribution.
VAR estimates the variance of a data sample.
VARA estimates the variance of a data set (which can include text and true/ false
values) based on a sample of the data.
VARP calculates the variance of a data population.
VARPA calculates the variance of a data population, which can include text and
true/false values.
WEIBULL calculates the cumulative Weibull distribution.
ZTEST returns the two-tailed p-value of a z-test.

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3.1 The Solver add-in

Let us suppose we want to maximize the following linear bivariate function
f(X,Y)=400X+300Y,
under some linear constraints
I. 4X+2Y 300
II. X70
III.2X+4Y240
The way to do it in Excel 2007 is simple. At first we will go to picture 3 and select the option
Solver add-in (we already did this). Then, similarly to the data analysis path we click on Data in
the tools bar and from there choose Solver. The dialogue box of picture 21 will appear.
But before doing these we have to put the functions in Excel. Suppose Table 12 is the
Excel.
Column A
Row 1
Row 2
Row 3
Row 4
Row 5

Column B Column C
=A1*400+300*B1
=4*A1+2*B1
=a1
=2*A1+4*B1

300
70
240

Table 12. Imitation of Excel.

The green is the function we want to maximize. The red are the constraints. In the cells
A1 and B1 we will put the X and Y answers respectively.
As we can see Excel offers the possibility for maximization, minimization and search for
the values of X and Y which satisfy a condition, such as that the function is equal to some
specific value, not only 0. Furthermore we have the option to perform the three mentioned tasks
with the inclusion of constraints, either in the form of equalities or inequalities. We will use the
form of inequalities in this example.

27

Picture 21
By pressing the button Add in the dialogue box of picture 21, the dialogue box of picture
22 will appear. We put the cell which describes the first constraint and the cell whose maximum
value is. We repeat this task until all constraints are entered. In case we have no constraints, we
do not have to come here. After the last constraint is entered we press Add. When we put the
final constraint we can either press OK or press Add first and then OK. In the second case a
message will appear (picture 23) preventing us from continuing. We will press Cancel and we
will go to picture 24, which is the same as picture 21, but with the constraints now added.

Picture 22

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Picture 23

Picture 24
Then we select the Simplex LP as the solving method and the message of picture 25 will appear.
We press OK and the message disappears. The solution will also appear in Excel.

29

Picture 25
Column A
Row 1
Row 2
Row 3
Row 4
Row 5

60

Column B Column C
30
33000
300
300
70
60
240
240

Table 15: Result of the constrained optimization.

30