ECON10151 Lecture 4
Managing Data with Excel Functions
Oct 2024
Learning Outcomes
• Be able to effectively retrieve data from a dataset using VLOOKUP, INDEX, and MATCH functions, and apply them to large datasets.
• Understand the differences and use cases of VLOOKUP versus INDEX and MATCH, enabling them to choose the appropriate function based on specific data retrieval needs.
Introduction
Excel offers a wide range of powerful functions that can help you manage, analyse, and extract valuable insights from data. This week, we’ll focus on three key functions that are essential for working with data effec- tively: VLOOKUP, MATCH, and INDEX. These functions will enable you to quickly find specific information, locatedata within a table, and retrieve values from different parts of your dataset.
1 VLOOKUP
In this section, we will explore the syntax of VLOOKUP and will break down the arguments so that you can understand how they work.
1.1 VLOOKUP Syntax
The VLOOKUP function searches for a value in the first column of a table and returns a value in the same row from another column.
Syntax:
=VLOOKUP(lookup value, table array, col index num, [range lookup])
Arguments:
• lookup value: The value you want to search for in the first column of the table.
• table array: The range of cells that contains the data. The first column of this range is where the lookup value will be searched.
• col index num: The column number (starting from 1) from which you want to retrieve the value.
• [range lookup] : An optional argument. Use TRUE for an approximate match or FALSE for an exact match. FALSE is recommended for most cases to ensure accurate results.
1.2 Practice with VLOOKUP
Instructions
In this exercise, you will practice using the VLOOKUP function in Excel to retrieve specific data from a table. You will be working with a dataset that contains information about students, their departments, academic year, and GPA. Follow the tasks below to complete the exercise.
Dataset
The dataset contains the following columns:
• Student ID: Unique identifier for each student.
• Name: Name of the student.
• Department: The department the student belongs to.
• Year: The academic year of the student.
• GPA: The student’s Grade Point Average.
Task 1: Find GPA for Given Students
You are provided with the names of two students:
• Alice Smith
• George Patel
Your task is to use the VLOOKUP function to find their GPAs from the dataset. Follow these steps:
1. Open Excel L4 Data and work on the worksheet named as VLOOKUP.
2. In cells B15 and B16, use the VLOOKUP function to find the GPA for each of the two students.
3. Syntax of VLOOKUP:
=VLOOKUP(lookup value, table array, col index num, [range lookup])
4. Setup
• lookup value: The value you want to search for in the first column of the table.
- Set it to the student’s name.
• table array: The range of cells that contains the data. The first column of this range is where the lookup value will be searched.
- Select the data range covering the columns from Student Name to GPA.
• col index num: The column number (starting from 1) from which you want to retrieve the value.
- It is the GPA column, which is the 4th column in the range.
• range lookup: An optional argument. Use TRUE for an approximate match or FALSE for an exact match.
- We set it to FALSE to ensure an exact match is found.
Remember: Make sure the lookup value is in the first column of the table array. Therefore, when you select data for the table array, ensure that the student names are in the first column of this array.
The GPA for Alice Smith: = VLOOKUP(A15, $B$2:$E$11, 4, FALSE)
The GPA for George Patel: = VLOOKUP(A16, $B$2:$E$11, 4, FALSE)
5. Graphical illustration of the formula:
Figure 1: Task 1 VLOOKUP Example
6. Report the GPAs for Alice Smith and George Patel. You should obtain the following results once you have entered the formula.
Figure 2: Task 1 Results
Task 2: Check if Student Name Exists in the Dataset
You are given the following names:
• Julia Fernandez
• Michael Green
Your task is to use the VLOOKUP function to check if these names exist in the dataset. Follow these steps:
1. Think: How to use VLOOKUP
If the name exists, return the corresponding Name from the list. If not, the function should return an error (such as #N/A).
2. Syntax of VLOOKUP:
=VLOOKUP(lookup value, table array, col index num, FALSE)
3. Setup
• lookup value: The value you want to search for in the first column of the table.
- Set it to the student’s name.
• table array: The range of cells that contains the data. The first column of this range is where the lookup value will be searched.
- Define table array as the data range covering the single column of Student Name.
• col index num: The column number (starting from 1) from which you want to retrieve the value.
- Assign col index num to the first column, which is the only column in the range.
• range lookup: An optional argument. Use TRUE for an approximate match or FALSE for an exact match.
- Set range lookup to FALSE to ensure that an exact match is found.
Remember: Make sure the lookup value is in the first column of the table array. Therefore, when you select data for the table array, ensure that the student names are in the first column of this array.
Julia Fernandez: = VLOOKUP(A20,$B$2:$B$11,1,FALSE)
Michael Green: = VLOOKUP(A21,$B$2:$B$11,1,FALSE)
4. Graphical illustration of the formula:
Figure 3: Task 2 VLOOKUP Example
5. Report whether each of the two names is found in the dataset. You should obtain the following results once you have entered the formula.
Figure 4: Task 2 Results
This suggests that Julia Fernandez is included in the dataset; however, Michael Green is not on the list, as it returns an error (#N/A )in the cell.
2 INDEX and MATCH
In this section, we will briefly explore the syntax of the INDEX and MATCH functions. The INDEX function returns a value based on specified row and column numbers within a given array, while the MATCH function finds the position of a value in a row or column.
We will break down their arguments to help you understand how each function works.
INDEX
The INDEX function returns the value in a specified cell. You need to know the row and column numbers of the cell within an array so that Excel can locate its position. Once identified, the function returns the value contained in that cell.
Syntax:
=INDEX(array, row num, [column num])
Arguments:
• array: The range of cells that contains the data from which you want to retrieve a value.
• row num: The row number in the array from which you want to retrieve a value.
• [column num] : The optional column number in the array. If omitted, the function will return the value from the first column.
MATCH
The MATCH function searches for a specified value in a specific column or a row and returns the relative position of that value.
Syntax:
=MATCH(lookup value, lookup array, [match type])
Arguments:
• lookup value: The value you want to search for in the array.
• lookup array: The range of cells that contains the data you want to search. The lookup array here can only be a single column or a single row.
• [match type] : An optional argument. It specifies how Excel should match the lookup value. Use 1 for the largest valueless than or equal to the lookup value, 0 for an exact match, or -1 for the smallest value greater than or equal to the lookup value. For most scenarios, 0 is preferred to ensure an exact match.
2.1 Practice with INDEX and MATCH
Task 1: Obtain the GPA of the Student with ID 33104 Using INDEX and MATCH
Manually finding a student’s GPA would involve identifying the correct row where the Student ID appears and then locating the GPA in the corresponding column. For small datasets, this is simple, but as datasets grow larger, manually finding this information becomes prone to error and time-consuming. With Excel’s INDEX and MATCH functions, we can automate this task and ensure accuracy. Thus, in this task, we can use MATCH to find out the row number and the column number. Then, INDEX can return the value of GPA based on the row number of Student ID and the column number of GPA.
Your objective is to find the GPA of the student with the Student ID: 33104. To achieve this goal, we can follow these steps:
1. Use the MATCH function to find the row number where the Student ID 33104 is located.
• (Worksheet: MATCH and INDEX) Begin with the cell I7 and type MATCH formula in the cell.
• Syntax of MATCH:
=MATCH(lookup value, lookup array, [match type]).
• Setup
。lookup value: The value you want to search for in the array.
- This case, it is 33104 (the Student ID you’re looking for).
。lookup array: The range of cells that contains the data you want to search. The lookup array here can only be a single column or a single row.
- We select the column of Student IDs (column A in the dataset).
。 [match type] should be set to 0 for an exact match.
The row number of Student ID 33104:
= MATCH(H7, A2:A11, 0)
• Graphical illustration of the formula:
Figure 5: Task 1 MATCH Example: row no.
2. Use the MATCH function to find the column number where the GPA is located.
• Begin with the cell I11 and type MATCH formula in the cell.
• Syntax of MATCH:
=MATCH(lookup value, lookup array, [match type]).
• Setup
。lookup value: The value you want to search for in the array.
- It is GPA (the header you are looking for in the row, including all headers).
。lookup array: The range of cells that contains the data you want to search. The lookup array here can only be a single column or a single row.
- We select the row of headers (Row 1 in the dataset). 。 [match type] should be set to 0 for an exact match.
The column number of GPA:
= MATCH(H11,A1:E1,0)
• Graphical illustration of the formula
Figure 6: Task 1 MATCH Example: column no.
3. Use the INDEX function to return the GPA of the student with ID 33104
We can fill in the INDEX function based on the row number and the column number found using the MATCH function.
• Begin with the cell I17 and type INDEX formula in the cell.
• Syntax of INDEX: =INDEX(array, row num, [column num])
• Setup
。array contains all of the values in this student information data set. 。row num corresponds to the row number of the student ID 33104.
。col num corresponds to the column number where GPA is located.
The GPA of the student with ID 33104:
= INDEX(A1:E11,I7,I11)
• Graphical illustration of the formula:
Figure 7: Task1 INDEX Example