Spreadsheets

Many software tools are currently available that make financial planners, the analysis of research data, or creating graphs as simple as entering information into a computer program. Spreadsheets are just one of these flexible tools that in recent years have incorporated enormously versatile and diverse capabilities to manipulate data.

A spreadsheet is a rectangular grid of rows and columns of cells, much like a ledger, which is used to collect or calculate data. The beauty of a computer spreadsheet is that, after entering data (numbers, expressions, labels, and formulas) into spreadsheet cells, one can perform many manipulations on these data. For example, you can perform many automatic calculations, create graphs, sort the data, or perform statistical calculations. A typical spreadsheet will present you with a grid of rows (labeled 1, 2, 3, etc.) and columns (labeled A, B, C, etc.). At each row-column intersection (cell), you can enter either a label, a number, or a formula that calculates the content of a cell based on the content of other cells. Spreadsheets also come with many build-in functions to calculate cell values based in other cells. Functions are typically available to perform statistical, financial, and mathematical tasks such as calculating sums, averages, sine, cosine, interest rates, principal portions of interest payments, and many more. Figure 7 gives an example of a very simple spreadsheet and also shows the toolbar and menus of the software product used in the example (Microsoft Excel). In Figure 7, the number of patients seen for each day of the week has been tabulated in the cells B2, B3, B4, B5, and B6. Based on these data, the total number of patients and the average number per day is calculated in cells B8 and B9, respectively. Changing the number in one of the spreadsheet cells (B2...B6) automatically updates the sum and the average calculation in cells B8 and B9. Many more complicated spreadsheets can be constructed for decision support or research purposes.
A number of commercial spreadsheet programs are currently available for a number of computer platforms. Examples of the most popular spreadsheets for various Personal Computers include Lotus 1-2-3, Quattro, and Excel.

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