Book Image

Data Analysis Using SQL and Excel - Second Edition

By : Gordon S. S. Linoff
Book Image

Data Analysis Using SQL and Excel - Second Edition

By: Gordon S. S. Linoff

Overview of this book

Data Analysis Using SQL and Excel, 2nd Edition shows you how to leverage the two most popular tools for data query and analysis—SQL and Excel—to perform sophisticated data analysis without the need for complex and expensive data mining tools. Written by a leading expert on business data mining, this book shows you how to extract useful business information from relational databases. You'll learn the fundamental techniques before moving into the "where" and "why" of each analysis, and then learn how to design and perform these analyses using SQL and Excel. Examples include SQL and Excel code, and the appendix shows how non-standard constructs are implemented in other major databases, including Oracle and IBM DB2/UDB. The companion website includes datasets and Excel spreadsheets, and the book provides hints, warnings, and technical asides to help you every step of the way. Data Analysis Using SQL and Excel, 2nd Edition shows you how to perform a wide range of sophisticated analyses using these simple tools, sparing you the significant expense of proprietary data mining tools like SAS.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Foreword
17
EULA

Which Households Are Increasing Purchase Amounts Over Time?

Are purchase amounts increasing or decreasing over time for any given household? This question can be answered in several ways. The most sophisticated is to define a trend for each household, using the slope of the line that best fits that household’s purchase patterns. Two other methods are also discussed. The first compares the earliest and latest spending values, using a ratio or difference for the comparison. The second uses the average of the earliest few purchases and compares them to the average amount of the last few purchases.

Comparison of Earliest and Latest Values

The first and last purchase values for each household contain information about changes over time. This analysis has two components. The first is calculating the values themselves. The second is deciding how to compare them.

Calculating the Earliest and Latest Values

What is the order amount for the earliest and latest order in each household (that...