Any journalist who wants to work with data must learn how to use spreadsheet applications like Excel or Google Docs.
Here it’s a list of 8 useful formulas for Computer Assisted Reporting:
1) =SUM(number 1, number2, numb…)
The most simple Excel formula, but it is essential. How many stories are related with public spending or funding? Calculate the total sum of a column is one of the most common operations you will use in data journalism.
2) =(number1-number2)
Very useful to calculate the increase or decrease of two values. For example the number of people who asked for house benefits in two different years.
3) =(New number-old number)/old number
It’s related with the previous formula and we use it if we need to find the percentage of change between two different figures. Sometimes calculate the increase or decrease is not enough for having an overall view. If you don’t trust me, just try.
4) =AVERAGE(fist cell in a range:last cell in a range)
This formula is quite obvious. Use it when you are looking for an average. But beware that in journalism this is not always the best choice as it may be distorted by a large figure.
5) =MEDIAN(first cell in a range:last cell in a range)
It looks for the mid-point and many times is more useful than the average. Imagine you have a spreadsheet with wages and they are very unequal. It would be better to use median as it’s not distorted by the extreme figures.
6) SUMIF(range, criteria, [sum_range])
This formula is used if you need to add the values that have a certain characteristic. For example, calculate the total amount of money given to just one supplier.
7) COUNTIF(range, criteria)
The syntax is very similar to SUMIF but it is used for count the number of cells of a certain criteria. For example all the spending over 25000£
8) =VLOOKUP(C2, A2:B300, 2, Exact)
This formula is a little bit more complex, but very useful. Let’s use an example. Imagine you have a spreadsheet with the IDs of the employees of a certain company and their wages. You want to know the names that are behind those numbers, but all this information is in another spreadsheet. The IDs and the name of the employees. You can use this formula to combine the code that identify each worker and mash it in the same sheet. Follow the steps showed on this link if you want to try.
These are just 8 formulas I found useful but there are more. Which ones do you think I should add to the list?
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