Chapter 11

Rolling the Dice on Predictions and Probability

In This Chapter

arrow Understanding linear and exponential trends

arrow Predicting future data from existing data

arrow Working with normal and Poisson distributions

When analyzing data, one of the most important steps is usually to determine what model fits the data. No, I’m not talking about a model car or model plane! This is a mathematical model or, put another way, a formula that describes the data. The question of a model is applicable for all data that comes in X-Y pairs, such as the following:

check.png Comparisons of weight and height measurements

check.png Data on salary versus educational level

check.png Number of fish feeding in a river by time of day

check.png Number of employees calling in sick as related to day of the week

Modeling

Suppose now that you plot all the ...

Get Excel Formulas and Functions For Dummies, 3rd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.