Excel Data Analysis For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 4

Working with PivotTables

In This Chapter

Cross-tabulating with pivot tables

Setting up with the PivotTable Wizard

Fooling around with your pivot tables

Customizing the look and feel of your pivot tables

Perhaps the most powerful analytical tool that Excel provides is the PivotTable command, with which you can cross-tabulate data stored in Excel lists. A cross-tabulation summarizes information in two (or more) ways: for example, sales by product and state, or sales by product and month.

Cross-tabulations, performed by pivot tables in Excel, are a basic and very interesting analytical technique that can be tremendously helpful when you’re looking at data that your business or life depends on. Excel’s cross-tabulations are neater than you might at first expect. For one thing, they aren’t static: You can cross-tabulate data and then re-cross-tabulate and re-cross-tabulate it again simply by dragging buttons. What’s more, as your underlying data changes, you can update your cross-tabulations simply by clicking a button.

Looking at Data from Many Angles

Cross-tabulations are ...