Using Spreadsheets to Organize Data

We use spreadsheet programs for entering, organizing, subsetting, and sorting data, for generating statistics and plots, and more. This course shows you some best practices that will result in fewer mistakes, greater reproducibility, and easier use of other software tools with data exported from spreadsheets. Learn how to: decide whether a spreadsheet or a database is the more suitable tool for a project; reorganize and reformat a spreadsheet to avoid common problems; parse and format dates using spreadsheet functions; detect and correct some kinds of data errors in spreadsheets; export spreadsheet data in portable formats; and, use a pivot table to summarize data in different ways. Participants should be comfortable using a computer and navigating files and folders. No prior programming experience is necessary.