Statistics for Maintenance Modelling: Basic Probability Concepts

# Exercise to Construct a Histogram in Excel¤

X | Bins
--- | ---

-0.432560
-1.665600
0.125330
0.287680
-1.146500
1.190900
1.189200
-0.037633
0.327290
0.174640
-0.186710
0.725790
-0.588320
2.183200
-0.136400
0.113930
1.066800
0.059281
-0.095648
-0.832350

-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3

Try this exercise to create a histogram in Excel (click here to launch Excel - if this opens in Internet Explorer, click here) from the data range in this table using the bins we have suggested here. To do this:

1. Copy and paste each column into Excel (for a better layout it is best to copy each one separately and paste them in side-by-side).
2. Select Tools > Data Analysis from the Excel menu and select Histogram from the dialog box and click OK. If the Data Analysis option isn't available, click Add-Ins on the Tools menu. In the Add-Ins available list, select the Analysis ToolPak box, and then click OK.

This opens up the dialog window where you specify the data underlying the histogram.

1. Select any pre-existing range in the Input Range field, and then select the data values in the X column.
2. Select any pre-existing range in the Bin Range field, and then select the data values in the Bins column. Note that if you omit this field, the bins will be automatically generated, and that if you specify your own bins, they must be in ascending order.
3. Click the Output Range radio button, and then click the cell in the Excel spreadsheet where you want the output display to start.
4. Finally, click the Chart Output checkbox.

Click here to see what the output should look like.