Search & Select Data in Spreadsheets
Data selection allows you to focus on a specific subset of your data based on certain criteria
- This is useful for analysing parts of a larger dataset
- You can select data using a single criterion or multiple criteria
Searching for specific data in spreadsheets can be done using various operators
- These include AND, OR, NOT, >, <, =, >=, <=, <>
- For example, you might search for all students who scored above 85 (>) AND are in Year 11
Wildcards can be used when you're not sure of the exact data you're looking for
- The most common wildcards are the asterisk (*) and the question mark (?)
- An asterisk represents any number of characters. For example, "A*" would find "Alex", "Aaron", etc.
- A question mark represents a single character. For example, "A?e" would find "Abe", but not "Alex"
Consider the following example spreadsheet:
|
A |
B |
C |
|
|
1 |
Name |
Mark |
Year |
|
2 |
Alex |
85 |
11 |
|
3 |
Ben |
90 |
12 |
|
4 |
Chloe |
80 |
11 |
|
5 |
Dave |
88 |
12 |
|
6 |
Eve |
82 |
11 |
- To select all students in Year 11, you could use the criterion "Year = 11"
- To search for students who are in Year 11 AND scored above 85, you could use the criteria "Year = 11" AND "Grade > 85"
Exam Tip
- Remember that you can use operators and wildcards in your searches to find data more efficiently
- Be sure to use the correct operator for your search. For example, if you want to find values equal to or greater than a certain number, use >=, not just >
- Wildcards are especially useful when you're not sure of the exact value you're looking for. But be careful, as they can also return unexpected results if not used properly!
