USING EXCEL IN AN INTRODUCTORY

STATISTICS COURSE: A COMPARISON OF INSTRUCTOR AND STUDENT

PERSPECTIVES


Cynthia L. Knott
Marymount University, 2807 N. Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22207
cynthia.knott@marymount.edu
703-284-5727

G. Steube
Marymount University, 2807 N. Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22207
gsteube@marymount.edu
703-284-5943

Northeast Decision Science Institute
March 2010
Using Excel in an Introductory Statistics Course Page 2 of 13
Abstract
Almost all undergraduate business degree programs require that students take at least one
course in statistics. The instructor for these classes has a number of options in terms of selecting
the software package that will be used. Three popular options are R, PASW (formerly SPSS),
and Excel. This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of these software choices in
order to assist the instructor with making an informed choice. The strengths and weaknesses of
these choices are explored in terms of both the instructors and students perspective. After
reviewing these assessments, the paper concludes that Excel is the best choice because of its low
cost, wide availability, familiar interface, and computational and charting flexibility.
Using Excel in an Introductory Statistics Course Page 3 of 13
Although most business schools require at least one course in statistics advances in
technology and the availability of statistical software has dramatically changed the way in which
these classes are taught. In the past, instructors presented statistics the old fashioned way, with
the paper and pencil. The students were expected to be involved in the mathematics as well as
the calculations. Students learned how to use the z-tables and calculate the statistics by hand.
Because of advances in technology, the reduction of cost in acquiring technology, and the
ubiquitous presence of technology, the way in which statistics courses can be presented has
changed to offer the instructor a wider range of choices. These choices center on the software
package that will be used in the class to perform calculations and present the findings in graphs
and charts. This paper focuses on some of the choices that instructors may face in select ing the
best software support for their introductory statistics class.
In the business school, statistics courses are applied rather than theoretical. It is
important that these learners understand the underlying calculations and theories, but more
significantly, these students must be able to apply, analyze, and interpret the results to improve
decision making in the business environment. Communication is the top skill sought by most
employers today (Barnes, 2009). Statistics courses should help the student in learning how to
communicate the results of their analysis in their future business environment. Therefore the
business statistics courses emphasize the communication of the results obtained from conducting
a wide range of hypothesis testing and other types of analysis. The use of statistical software
relieves the student and instructor from spending too much time on calculations and thus affords
more time to emphasize the understanding, interpreting, and communicating the results of these
computations.
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This paper compares three popular statistical packages; R, PASW (formerly known as
SPSS) and Excel. Information about the R package can be obtained from the R Package for
Statistical Computing (Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Vienna University, n.d.);
PASW and Excel information can be located on the PASW website (SPSS Inc., 2009) and the
Microsoft website (Microsoft Inc., 2009b). The use of any of these three packages has a number
of strengths and deficiencies. These advantages and disadvantages are discussed from the
instructor and student point of view in this report. The discussion will provide input by which
assist an instructor in deciding among the three packages for his or her class in introductory
statistics.
Advantages and Disadvantages of R
The advantages and disadvantages from the instructor and student views for R are
summarized in Table 1 (instructor) and Table 2 (student), respectively.
Table 1
Advantages and disadvantages of R from the instructor view
Advantages
1. Availability Freely widely available at no cost (Zieffler & Long,
n.d.)

2. Flexibility and
customization
Because R is a programming language almost any result
can be achieved (Zieffler & Long, n.d.)

3.Up to date methods and
packages
Because R methods are written by users, R is more
current than many commercial statistical packages that
require updates to their base system (Zieffler & Long,
n.d.)

4. Broad coverage R packages are extensive and include a wide variety of
quantitative applications

5. Availability of help Because R has a large user network, help is readily
available on almost any topic
Using Excel in an Introductory Statistics Course Page 5 of 13



Disadvantages
1. Large data sets R may not handle large data sets as efficiently as SAS
(Zieffler & Long, n.d.)

2. Speed Some procedures in R could take days to run (Zieffler
& Long, n.d.)

3. Learning curve Because R is command line driven rather than a point
and click application, the learning curve is more
challenging than most commercial packages which use
a graphical interface

4. Lack of a spreadsheet view
of data
Unlike Excel and SPSS, R does not include a
spreadsheet view of the data set

5. Unfamiliarity R is less well-known than SPSS or Excel and may be
viewed less positively because of the lack of familiarity

Table 2
Advantages and disadvantages of R from the student view
Advantages
1. Availability No cost to the students and can be installed on their
computer and thus eliminate trips the University's
computer lab to do homework

2. Flexibility and
customization
After some investment in learning, R the student could
find available packages and develop their own tailored
applications

3.Up to date methods and
packages
As other users add packages to R to keep it current,
students can continue using R throughout their
academic and professional careers without concern
about updating their base packages to obtain the newer
software

4. Broad coverage Because of R broad coverage, students might be able to
use R in other quantitative courses

5. Availability of help Students can use the network of available user without
charge or other registration requirements to obtain
guidance on almost any aspect of R
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Disadvantages
1. Large data sets May not be an issue for a student's academic use of R
because the data sets are relatively small

2. Speed The basic procedures used in an introductory statistics
course would not take days to run

3. Learning curve Students would need to invest time in learning R and
that investment may be challenging and time intensive;
the lack of graphic interface with point and click
capability would be a challenge for students who have
only worked with operating systems and applications
that furnish these abilities

4. Lack of a spreadsheet view
of data
The lack of spreadsheet view may be a concern to
students because they are tuned to table presentation of
data especially for business students

5. Unfamiliarity Students may not be any more unfamiliar with R than
SPSS; most students would be familiar with Excel

Advantages and Disadvantages of PASW
The strengths and weaknesses from the instructor and student views for PASW are
summarized in Table 3 (instructor) and Table 4 (student), respectively.
Table 3
Advantages and disadvantages of PASW from the instructor view
Advantages
1. Well known and supported PASW has been in the marketplace for many years and
many textbooks for introductory statistics courses are
based on this application. Other programs can easily
import SPSS data files (Harrington, McLeod, &
M.Clark, 2009).

2. Ease of use Because of its graphical user interface, a large of
number of statistical functions are easy to use and
access

3.Up to date PASW is generally updated at least once a year with
minor updates available on the corporate website
Using Excel in an Introductory Statistics Course Page 7 of 13

4. Broad coverage PASW includes a large number of statistical routines
appropriate for an introductory statistics course

5. Availability of help There are number of Excellent books that provide
comprehensive information on using PAWS; the
availability of the list serve for this package also
provides another source of guidance for specific issues


Disadvantages
1. Cost PASW is a commercial software that is available at a
relatively high cost [ JourneyEd (2009) list PASW
Graduate Pack for Windows at $199.98] ; some
applications are available only as another product with a
separate fee

2. Licensing complexity The license to use PASW is time limited; the license
only allows installation on a limited number of
computers; add-ons to the PASW require acquisition to
additional licenses. The licensing is not user friendly
(Harrington, et al., 2009).

3. Confusion among the
different versions
Because PASW is updated every year a number of
issues can occur with features and data formats are
available especially between the MAC and Windows
products

Table 4
Advantages and disadvantages of PASW from the student view
Advantages
1. Well known and supported Students would have relatively little difficulty in
obtaining support for their SPSS work from textbooks,
Internet resources, and other students.
2. Ease of use The graphical user interface provides the student with
quick access to the statistical routines needed for an
introductory course; student also has the ability to
customize PASW results including the display of
graphic output
3. Broad coverage All the statistical routines required by the introductory
Using Excel in an Introductory Statistics Course Page 8 of 13
statistics course would be available to the students
4. Availability of help The student has access to a large number of excellent
books that provide comprehensive information on using
PASW

Disadvantages
1. Cost At price point of almost $200 even for the Graduate
version of the PASW package, the cost is an issue for
student
2. Licensing complexity Although students would be able to use their purchased
package for the duration of the introductory statistics
course subsequent use of the package in graduate and
professional work would become a licensing problem
3. Confusion among the
different versions
Students may try to purchase or borrow older versions
of PASW which could create issues for them with the
instructions in the selected introductory statistics
textbook
4. Lag in newer techniques "For academic use SPSS lags notably behind SAS, R
and even perhaps others that are on the more
mathematical rather than statistical side for modern data
analysis (e.g. robust and bootstrapping approaches
available easily conducted elsewhere are nonexistent or
very difficult to do, basic tests of analytical assumptions
are often not available)" (Harrington, et al., 2009)

Advantages and Disadvantages of Excel
The advantages and disadvantages for Excel are provided in Table 5 (instructor) and
Table 6 (student).
Table 5
Advantages and disadvantages of Excel from the instructor view
Advantages
Using Excel in an Introductory Statistics Course Page 9 of 13
1. Availability All of the labs in the University have the Microsoft
Office Package on them and therefore, access is always
available. Instructors dont have to go through the
hassle of having special software installed on the
computers each semester.
2. Availability of Help On-line help is extensive and the package also has a
built in help function that is very user friendly.
3. Ease of Use Very hands on friendly and intuitive to use. The
dropdown menus make it easy to find things.
4. Add-Ins The software has a standard installation, but you can
also add-in data analysis tool packages, specifically to
do Statistical applications. Therefore, you dont have to
know any coding or programming languages.
5. Coverage

6. Data Sets
The package includes all of the Statistical applications
that an introductory course needs.
Many authors are including data sets with the textbooks
that are already in Excel files and ready for analysis.
Also, many web sites that manage data sets are putting
them in a format that is easy to download as an Excel
file.

Disadvantages
1. Cost Although the package is available in all of the labs on
campus, an instructor would need to purchase the
software package for any home computers that they use.
2. Potential Calculation
Problems
The program doesnt calculate the 3
rd
quartile correctly
(Anderson, 2009). Problems with the calculations in
Excel have also been identified by McCullough and
Heiser (2008) and Yalta (2008).
3. Limitations of Data The number of data points is limited to x amount. In
terms of an introductory course this is not necessarily
an issue, but it can be when showing analysis of large
data sets. The limitations of Excel are provided by
Using Excel in an Introductory Statistics Course Page 10 of 13
Microsoft (2009a).
4. Functions Some of the advanced statistical functions are not
included in the package.


Table 6
Advantages and disadvantages of Microsofts Excel from the student view
Advantages
1. Availability All of the University labs have Microsoft Office
installed on them, so the students have access to Excel
everywhere on campus.
2. Cost There is no cost to the students if they use the
computers in the lab.
3. Availability of Help There is extensive on-line help and the package also
includes a help function that is easy to find information.
4. Textbook Many of the textbooks include instruction on the
functions in Excel, which allows students to follow
along and do practice problems on their own.
5. Data files




6. Applicability to other
Courses
Many of the textbooks are including data files that are
already in Excel format and also many web sites that
manage data sets are making the files available for
download in Excel format.

The use of Excel is becoming the standard in many
other areas of business instruction such as accounting,
finance and operations. Therefore, the students can use
the skills they learn in other courses as they work
through their programs.


Disadvantages
1. Customization The ability to customize the package is not very user
Using Excel in an Introductory Statistics Course Page 11 of 13
friendly. You can add macros using visual basic, but
this requires the knowledge of a computer programming
language.

2. Large Data Sets The limitations of Excel are provided by Microsoft
(2009a).
3. Confusion among the
different versions
Because Excel is in a current transition from 2003 to
2007, students sometimes are working in one version
and being taught in another; this can be confusing to
them. Although the functions are all the same, where to
find them is different for each version.



Conclusion

This paper explored three popular software packages to determine their advantages and
disadvantages for use in an introductory business statistics course. By assessing these pros and
cons in terms of both the instructor and student perspective a better decision about which of these
package to choose can be made. Although any of the three packages would provide learners with
the ability to perform computations and display graphs and charts, each of these choices has its
own unique set of strengths and weaknesses. This report identified a number of assets and
liabilities for each of the three packages in Tables 1 thru 6. Because of its low cost,
computational and charting flexibility, interface familiarity, and wide availability the selection of
Excel is seen as the best choice. The availability factor for Excel includes not only its presence in
college computer labs and classrooms but also its wide use in businesses. After students
complete their business degrees and are employed in their fields, the availability of Excel in
these future workplaces will far exceed SPSS or R. By selecting Excel for use in the statistics
course, the instructor has added to the motivation for his or her students because in almost all of
their potential employment destinations, the former student will be able to use Excel on the job
Using Excel in an Introductory Statistics Course Page 12 of 13
for their data analysis needs. Consequently Excel is an excellent choice for instructors to use to
support their introductory statistics class.


Using Excel in an Introductory Statistics Course Page 13 of 13
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