2.3 Using the Recalculation Mode

Even if the Calculation option is set for Manual, you can use a ribbon command or keyboard shortcut to force a recalculation when needed.

You can still recalculate by pressing the keys Shift + F9 on the keyboard on a PC (For MAC, use keys Command + = ) or pressing the button Calculate Now in the Formulas Menu.

A screenshot of Calculation ribbon.

Figure 2.8: Calculation ribbon.

2.3.1 Practice 1

Suppose that there are 95 students enrolled in a section of the course Introductory Statistics. Draw a random sample of fifteen (15) of the students.

To draw the sample, assign each of the students a distinct number between 1 and 95. To find the numbers of the 15 students to be included in the sample, do the following steps.

  1. Change the calculation mode to Manual (as described above).
  2. Type the label Sample in Cell A1 ,
  3. Select Cell A2.
  4. Type =RANDBETWEEN(1,95) in the formula bar and press Enter.
  5. Position the mouse pointer in the lower right corner of Cell A2 until it becomes a + sign, and click-drag downward until you reach Cell A16. Release. Then press the key F9 (or Calculate Now button).
    1. Use one of the Sort buttons to sort the data to easily check for repetitions. If there are repetitions, press Shift + F9 (or Calculate Now) again and re-sort. Below, with the data sorted, we can verify that there are no repetitions