In column B, the worksheet shows the units sold of each book through one popular bookselling outlet.

You might choose to use the Descriptive Statistics tool to summarize this data set.

In the case of the example worksheet, the input range is A1:C38.

Note that Excel wants the range address to use absolute references hence, the dollar signs.

When Excel hides the Descriptive Statistics dialog box, select the range that you want by dragging the mouse.

Then click the worksheet button again to redisplay the Descriptive Statistics dialog box.

Typically, you place the statistics onto a new worksheet in the existing workbook.

To do this, simply select the New Worksheet Ply radio button.

Select the Confidence Level for Mean check box to specify that you want a confidence level calculated for the sample mean.

Use the Kth Largest and Kth Smallest check boxes to indicate you want to find the largest or smallest value in the data set.

He is the author of more than 100 books, including QuickBooks For Dummies and Quicken For Dummies.

Data Analysis With Excel For Mac