02 Mar Analyzing Distribution Types and Trend Lines in Excel
Scenario: You are a data analyst for a small retail company, and your manager has asked you to analyze customer purchasing trends over the past year. You have been provided with sales data from different store locations. Your task is to examine the distribution of monthly sales, identify trends, and visualize the data using Excel.
Data Set (Copy into Excel):
Month
Store A Sales ($)
Store B Sales ($)
Store C Sales ($)
Store D Sales ($)
Jan
4200
3800
5000
4700
Feb
4600
3900
5200
4800
Mar
4800
4200
5300
4900
Apr
5000
4300
5400
5000
May
5100
4500
5500
5200
Jun
5200
4600
5600
5300
Jul
5300
4800
5700
5500
Aug
5400
4900
5800
5600
Sep
5500
5000
5900
5700
Oct
5600
5200
6000
5800
Nov
5700
5300
6100
6000
Dec
5800
5400
6200
6100
Assignment Details/Instructions:
Using Excel’s Data Analysis Toolpak, complete the following tasks:
1. Create Frequency Distributions:
· Generate a histogram for Store A’s monthly sales.
· Set appropriate bin ranges for the histogram or let the system do it for you.
2. Analyze the Distribution Shape:
· Describe the shape of the histogram (e.g., normal, skewed).
3. Create Trend Lines:
· Create a line graph showing the sales trends for all four stores over the year.
· Add a trend line for Store A and Store C and display the equation on the chart.
· Identify whether the trend is linear, exponential, or polynomial.
