Introduction to Data Analysis Using Excel (Coursera)

Offered by Rice University,
Introduction to Data Analysis Using Excel (Coursera)

The use of Excel is widespread in the industry. It is a very powerful data analysis tool and almost all big and small businesses use Excel in their day to day functioning. This course is designed to give you a working knowledge of Excel with the aim of getting to use it for more advance topics in Business Statistics. The course is designed keeping in mind two kinds of learners - those who have very little functional knowledge of Excel and those who use Excel regularly but at a peripheral level and wish to enhance their skills.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

The course takes you from basic operations such as reading data into excel using various data formats, organizing and manipulating data, to some of the more advanced functionality of Excel. All along, Excel functionality is introduced using easy to understand examples which are demonstrated in a way that learners can become comfortable in understanding and applying them.
Course 1 of 5 in the Business Statistics and Analysis Specialization.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Introduction to Spreadsheets
Introduction to spreadsheets, reading data, manipulating data. Basic spreadsheet operations and functions.
In this module, you will be introduced to the use of Excel spreadsheets and various basic data functions of Excel.
Topics covered include:
• Reading data into Excel using various formats
• Basic functions in Excel, arithmetic as well as various logical functions
• Formatting rows and columns
• Using formulas in Excel and their copy and paste using absolute and relative referencing

WEEK 2
Spreadsheet Functions to Organize Data
Introduction to some more useful functions such as the IF, nested IF, VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP functions in Excel.
This module introduces various Excel functions to organize and query data. Learners are introduced to the IF, nested IF, VLOOKUP and the HLOOKUP functions of Excel.
Topics covered include:
• IF and the nested IF functions
• VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP
• The RANDBETWEEN function

WEEK 3
Introduction to Filtering, Pivot Tables, and Charts
Introduction to the Data filtering capabilities of Excel, the construction of Pivot Tables to organize data and introduction to charts in Excel.
This module introduces various data filtering capabilities of Excel. You’ll learn how to set filters in data to selectively access data. A very powerful data summarizing tool, the Pivot Table, is also explained and we begin to introduce the charting feature of Excel.
Topics covered include:
• VLOOKUP across worksheets
• Data filtering in Excel
• Use of Pivot tables with categorical as well as numerical data
• Introduction to the charting capability of Excel

WEEK 4
Advanced Graphing and Charting
Constructing various Line, Bar and Pie charts. Using the Pivot chart features of Excel. Understanding and constructing Histograms and Scatterplots.
This module explores various advanced graphing and charting techniques available in Excel. Starting with various line, bar and pie charts we introduce pivot charts, scatter plots and histograms. You will get to understand these various charts and get to build them on your own.
Topics covered include
• Line, Bar and Pie charts
• Pivot charts
• Scatter plots
• Histograms

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Mastering Excel Essentials to Enhance Business Value (Coursera) Coursera
Illinois Tech

Mastering Excel Essentials to Enhance Business Value (Coursera)

This course is designed to cater to a diverse audience, particularly those with an interest in working in dynamic environments that place a strong emphasis on data-driven, quantitative analysis. Whether you are an experienced professional seeking to enhance your skills or someone looking to pivot into a cutting-edge industry, this course provides valuable insights and knowledge to thrive in today's data-centric and rapidly evolving landscape.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Advanced Reproducibility in Cancer Informatics (Coursera) Coursera
Johns Hopkins University

Advanced Reproducibility in Cancer Informatics (Coursera)

This course introduces tools that help enhance reproducibility and replicability in the context of cancer informatics. It uses hands-on exercises to demonstrate in practical terms how to get acquainted with these tools but is by no means meant to be a comprehensive dive into these tools. The course introduces tools and their concepts such as git and GitHub, code review, Docker, and GitHub actions.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Pre-MBA Statistics (Coursera) Coursera
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA)

Pre-MBA Statistics (Coursera)

Welcome to the Pre-MBA Statistics course! By the end of this course, you will be able to describe how statistics can be used to summarize, analyze, and interpret data. This course introduces you to some aspects of descriptive and inferential statistics. You will learn to distinguish between various data types and describe the operations that you can execute with each type of data and the right tools to use.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Matrix Methods (Coursera) Coursera
University of Minnesota

Matrix Methods (Coursera)

Mathematical Matrix Methods lie at the root of most methods of machine learning and data analysis of tabular data. Learn the basics of Matrix Methods, including matrix-matrix multiplication, solving linear equations, orthogonality, and best least squares approximation. Discover the Singular Value Decomposition that plays a fundamental role in dimensionality reduction, Principal Component Analysis, and noise reduction.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Analytics in Healthcare Management and Administration (Coursera) Coursera
Northeastern University

Analytics in Healthcare Management and Administration (Coursera)

This course is the continuation of Healthcare Analytics Essentials . If you have not yet taken the Healthcare Analytics Essentials course, it is recommended that you complete that course prior to this course. The foundational knowledge to support the project are carried through in this deeper dive into using healthcare analytics in management and administration.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Infonomics I: Business Information Economics and Data Monetization (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Infonomics I: Business Information Economics and Data Monetization (Coursera)

Thriving in the Information Age compels organizations to deploy information as an actual business asset, not as an IT asset or merely as a business byproduct. This demands creativity in conceiving and implementing new ways to generate economic benefits from the wide array of information assets available to an organization. Unfortunately, information too frequently is underappreciated and therefore underutilized.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Habilidades de Excel para el negocio: Conceptos básicos (Coursera) Coursera
Macquarie University

Habilidades de Excel para el negocio: Conceptos básicos (Coursera)

En este primer curso de la especialización de habilidades de Excel para el negocio, aprenderá los conceptos básicos de Microsoft Excel. En seis semanas, podrá navegar, de forma experta, a través de la interfaz de usuario de Excel, realizar cálculos básicos con fórmulas y funciones, dar formato profesional a hojas de cálculo y crear visualizaciones de datos a través de gráficos y cuadros.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks