Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Excel: COUNTIF and Clean Data Essentials

This walkthrough is designed for HES Sustainability Capstone students seeking to manage and analyze their survey data effectively using Excel. In this video, we focus on: Using the COUNTIF formula for structured data analysis Identifying and correcting common pitfalls in raw data Handling “Select All That Apply” responses without double-counting Best practices for clean and consistent data entry Strategies for error-checking and verification in small datasets We work through actual data, covering the entire process from setting up a clean worksheet to verifying accurate counts. Whether you're new to Excel or just want to avoid time-consuming mistakes, this guide will help streamline your analysis. This is the first in a series supporting students preparing their capstone presentations and reports. The next video will demonstrate how to create meaningful and accessible graphs from your cleaned data.