Chapter 34: Analyzing Data with Pivot Tables
In This Chapter
Creating a pivot table from non-numeric data
Grouping items in a pivot table
Creating a calculated field or a calculated item in a pivot table
Understanding the new Date Model feature
Creating an attractive report using a pivot table
The previous chapter introduces pivot tables. There, I present several examples to demonstrate the types of pivot table summaries that you can generate from a set of data.
This chapter continues the discussion and explores the details of creating effective pivot tables. Creating a basic pivot table is very easy, and the examples in this chapter demonstrate additional pivot table features that you may find helpful. I urge you to try these techniques with your own data. If you don't have suitable data, use the files available on this book's website.
Working with Non-Numeric Data
Most pivot tables are created from numeric data, but pivot tables are also useful with some types of non-numeric data. Because you can't sum non-numbers, this technique involves counting.
Figure 34.1 shows a table and a pivot table generated from the table. The table is a list of 400 employees, along with their location and gender. As you can see, the table has no numeric values, but you can create a useful pivot table that counts the items rather than sums them. The pivot table cross-tabulates the Location field by the Sex field for the 400 employees and shows the count for each combination of location and gender. ...
