Data Analysis

Data analysis is basically getting the most out of your data and being able to interpret the results.
There are lots of standard features built-in to Excel which you will find useful such as Worksheet Functions, What if Analysis, Pivot Tables, Scenarios
Understanding your data and being able to analyse it accurately is very important.
Data Analysis can be divided into three different sections: entering data; manipulating data and presenting data.
There will be times when you want to do more than just enter data into a worksheet and use simple formulas and functions.
Excel also includes functionality which can be used to analyse your data and solve problems.
Both Goal Seek and the Solver Add-in enable you to play "what if" without manually changing the relevant cells.

Quick Analysis

Added in Excel 2013.
This brings displays several data analysis options is a convenient smart tag.

Data Tables

A data table summarises the impact of one or two variables on formula that uses those variables.
Lets you summarise and compare the results in formula cells.
Also allows you to create a series of results based on a single formula.
These types of tables are also referred to as sensitivity tables.
It is possible to create two different types of table:
1) A table based on a single variable that tests the variable's impact on more than one formula.
2) A table based on two input variables that tests their impact on a single formula.
These are accessed from (Data > Table)
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Goal Seek

Uses reverse "what if" analysis to calculate the value of a single input.
Goal Seek should be used when there is one unknown variable.
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Scenario Manager

These are sets of possible input values used to calculate formula results.
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Solver Add-in

Uses reverse "what if" analysis to calculate the values of multiple inputs based on a result you have specified in a formula cell.
This is a separate add-in and is not installed by default.
The Solver Add-in is a powerful analysis tool which uses multiple variables and constraints to find the optimal solution to solve a problem.
The Solver Add-in should be used when there is more than one unknown variables or when you want to include constraints.
Solver can be used in conjunction with models of any kind that are built in Excel.
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