Data Management Project
Using Software to Carry Out Data Analysis Tasks

This activity involves two parts:
Part A deals with finding values for: Mean, Median, Mode, Range, Standard Deviation, Max and Min points, Q1 and Q3. It also involves the use of Microsoft Excel (or similar spreadsheet program) to help create a stem and leaf plot, a box-and-whisker plot, a histogram and a frequency polygon. 
Part B deals with finding the mean of various groups, creating a scatter plot from various data, find the equation of a line of best fit, and predicting where a value will be on the line of best fit. 
The general requirements for the two parts are given in the handout titled: Data Management Project Student Activities. The information below gives instructions on how to use Microsoft Excel to carry out the requirements from the handout.

Part A: Tree Farm Problem

•	Enter a title for the data in Row 1. “Typical height of 5 year old Fir Trees”
•	Enter the data given (from your handout) into column A of your spreadsheet. 

•	To determine the mean (average), median, mode, standard deviation, maximum (max) and minimum (min) points, use the following instructions:
o	On your spreadsheet (in Column D) type each of the terms you will be finding. You will find the list of all the terms required in the handout for the activity.
o	Next to each term (in Column E), you will insert a function to find the specific value that you are looking for. 
o	To do this, click on the cell beside the name of the appropriate value. Go to Insert and select Function. 
o	When the window opens, find the Category drop-down menu. Choose Statistical for the category.
o	From the functions list, choose the appropriate function (example to find the mean, choose AVERAGE)
o	To tell the computer what data to use, you must go to column A and click and drag until all the numbers are included. They will be surrounded by a dotted line. Press OK. The value for the function should appear in the cell you selected in the beginning. 
o	Repeat this procedure until all values are found. 
•	
To determine the Quartiles (Q1 and Q3):
o	The data window for Quartiles has two lines. Follow the same steps as above, putting the range of data to be included into the first line (Array). Type the quartile number you want in this second line of the quartile function. (Quart) For example: To find Quartile 1, enter a 1 into the Array line. 

•	To determine the Range:
The Range is the difference between the max value and the min value, so you must create a formula to perform that subtraction.
o	Go to the cell in Column E that is beside the term Range you typed into Column D. You will insert the function manually (create a formula) in this cell. 
o	Type the Equal (=) sign (this tells the computer that you are going to enter a formula).
o	Then click on the cell containing the max value.
o	Use the Subtract (-) key.
o	Then click on the cell containing the min value.
o	Press Enter.

•	To draw a Histogram
o	In Column H type the title “Bin range” 
o	Underneath the title, place the numbers 0, 10, 20, …, 100 down the column. These numbers represent the upper levels of each bin. 
o	Go to Tools at the top of the page. 
o	Select Add-ins.
o	Click on the Analysis Toolpak and select OK. 
o	Go back to Tools and select Data Analysis. 
o	Select Histogram and press OK.
o	In the Histogram window, click in the box Input range. Highlight the data in Column A.
o	Click in the box Bin range and highlight the data in Column H
o	In the same window, in Output Options, click on New Worksheet ply, and type a title for the worksheet “Histogram for Trees”. Select Chart Output at the bottom of the window. This makes a chart along with the frequency table in a new worksheet of your Excel document. Press OK.
o	To increase the size of your graph, click once on the graph and drag one of the sizing handles until a suitable size is reached. 

•	To create a Frequency Polygon (scatter plot):
o	Highlight the bin/frequency data created by your histogram graph. 
o	Go to the chart icon and select XY (Scatter). 
o	Choose the chart sub-type with the description “Scatter with data points connected by lines”. Then click Next.
o	The wizard will ask you to confirm the  data which you have already selected by highlighting the data cells. Select Series in: Columns. Click Next. 
o	Type in the Chart title – “Frequency Polygon of Mean Tree Height”
o	Label the X-axis – “Mean Tree Height”
o	Label the Y-axis – “Frequency”
o	Click Next.
o	Chart Location – choose As new sheet. You can title this sheet “Frequency Polygon”.
o	Select Finish.

•	To create a Stem and Leaf Plot:
o	Go to your original data (in Column A of Sheet 1).
o	Highlight / Select the data and copy it (Ctrl-C or Edit-Copy).
o	Go to Column J and paste (Ctrl-V or Edit-Paste) the data.
o	While the data is still highlighted, go to Data at the top of the page and select Sort.
o	In the Sort window, select Column J and choose by Ascending. Press OK.
o	This will put your data in order which will simplify making your stem and leaf plot. 
Note: If you title the data for your Stem and Leaf plot, you must select Header Row in the choices at the bottom of the window.

•	To Create a Box-and-Whisker Plot:
o	Use the information you have already developed to create a box and whisker plot for the mean tree height. Remember, you need five values (min, Q1, median, Q3, max).

Part B – Scatter plot and line of best fit

•	Open a new sheet in your Excel document. 
•	Enter the data for each tree age (from Part B of your handout) in separate columns (A – H)
•	Determine the mean height for each age group, using the instructions given earlier. 

•	To create a scatter plot for the data:
o	When you have the data entered, create a table of values in the Excel document in columns J and K. 
o	Column J – Type the title Age, then list the ages of the tree down the column. 
o	Column K – Title this  Mean Height, and place each height with its corresponding age. 
o	Create a scatter plot according to the instructions from Part A. Select the data from Columns J and K. Choose the option, where the data points are not connected. Label appropriately. 

•	To create an equation of line of best fit. 
o	Excel will help you find the equation of the line of best fit by finding the slope and the y-intercept.
o	To start, label two cells (J13 and K13, for example) slope and y-intercept, respectively. 
o	Next highlight the two empty cells underneath them (J14 and K14) 
o	Go to Insert and choose Function.
o	The function category should be Statistical and the Function name is LINEST. Press OK.
o	For Known y’s – highlight the data for the Mean Heights in Column K.
o	For Known x’s – highlight the data for the Ages in Column J.
o	Leave the last two rows (Constant and Stats) empty.
o	Press OK. 
o	Only one value will appear. To see the y-intercept, make sure both cells are still highlighted. Press F2, then Ctrl-Shift-Enter. The second data value will appear. 

•	To determine a value along a line of best fit, we will use a function called Forecast. 
o	Go to cell J17 and J18 and type in “Forecast 4.5” and “Forecast 10” respectively.
o	Go to cell K17. Go to Insert and select the Forecast function in order to determine the mean height of a tree that is 4.5 years old. 
o	In the Forecast function window, type the number for the x value that you are looking for in the first row; in this case it would be equal to 4.5. Then select the Known y’s (the values in column K) and the Known x’s (the values in column J) exactly as you did for the scatter plot.
o	Repeat these instructions for cell K18. This time the x value in the first row will be 10.
o	Repeat these again for x values of 7 years, 120 years, and 1000 years.