Dear Analyst

Dear Analyst


Latest Episodes

Dear Analyst #37: Text manipulation functions to extract domain names from email addresses
July 27, 2020

In Excel or Google Sheets, text manipulation is usually associated with data cleaning, data cleansing, and data transformation. Sometimes your data is "dirty" and needs to be categorized in a different way or you need to "extract" a piece of text from ...

Dear Analyst #36: What The Economist’s model for the 2020 presidential election can teach us about forecasting
July 13, 2020

On a recent episode of The Intelligence, The data editor at The Economist spoke about a U.S. presidential election forecast their publication is working on. I looked more into their model and discuss some of the features and parameters of their model a...

Dear Analyst #35: Analyzing what people dream about with the Shape of Dreams data visualization
June 29, 2020

Have you ever wondered what the underlying meaning of your dreams are? Chances are you may have tried Googling something like "What does it mean to dream about [INSERT DREAM]." In The Shape of Dreams, Federica Fragapane answers this very question of wh...

Dear Analyst #34: Trick for finding column index for VLOOKUPs using pride events data
June 22, 2020

This is one of my favorite VLOOKUP tips. Given that it's pride month, we'll be applying this tip to a list of all pride events in the United States. Here is the Google Sheet if you want to follow along with this example.

Dear Analyst #33: Comparing one-time vs. monthly recurring donations to support racial justice organizations
June 08, 2020

The Black Lives Matter movement has come to the forefront in the news media. People around the world are looking for ways to fight racial injustice. If you are in a position to donate to an organization fighting racial injustice,

Dear Analyst #32: How to use the QUERY function in Google Sheets on COVID-19 data
June 01, 2020

The QUERY() function in Google Sheets gives you the ability to quickly filter and sort your data similar to how you might get data from a database. If you write SQL queries, the QUERY() function feels easy and natural to use.

Dear Analyst #31: Writing Google Apps Scripts to sync data from Coda to Google Sheets
May 18, 2020

I worked on a "small" side project recently to sync data between Google Sheets and tables in Coda. The full blog post tutorial is here, and the GitHub repository is here. I started using Google Apps Script last year and it's a super powerful way to con...

Dear Analyst #30: How to learn Excel while staying at home during COVID-19
May 11, 2020

Now that you're staying home and picking up new hobbies and taking classes online, here are a few tips on how to learn Excel and spreadsheets from an online class. I have seen viewership on my own Excel classes spike since COVID-19 hit which has led me...

Dear Analyst #29: Working with dynamic array functions and formulas that spill
April 13, 2020

Have you ever wondered what an "array-entered formula" is? It's an intermediate/advanced concept in Excel but in late 2018, Microsoft released dynamic array functions and formulas that "spill" into the cells below your current cell with a function.

Dear Analyst #28: Filling a formula down to the last row of your data set
March 30, 2020

This spreadsheet tip is based on a question I get asked all the time when I teach (well taught) Excel at in-person classes: How do I fill a formula down to the last row of my data set without over-shooting the last row with keyboard shortcuts?