
Chapter 9 Data Analysis and Simulation200
Excel Functions for Descriptive Statistics
One way of gaining an understanding of given data is through descriptive statistics.
The descriptive analysis of the data is done utilizing numerical and graphical methods
to summarize the data in terms of descriptors such as mean, median, and variance. Such
an analysis of the data allows us to answer questions such as:
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What defines a typical value for a data set?
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How are the data spread around the typical value?
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How can I find the 90
th
percentile of a data set?
The descriptive statistics give us a summary view of the collected data. The follow-up
analysis