A scatter plot is a type of graph commonly used to represent the correlation between two different variables. For instance, it’s generally believed that the amount of time spent studying for an exam has a direct influence on how well a student will perform on that exam. To support this theory, you may gather information from several students consisting of the number of hours they spent studying and their final test scores. This information could then be transformed into a scatter plot.
There are several different types of scatter plots that can be created in Microsoft Excel 2007, but we’ll focus on the most common variety – a scatter plot with only markers – in these instructions. However, these steps can easily be adapted and used to create any of the other varieties of scatter plots in Excel.
Step 1: Enter or copy/paste your data into an Excel worksheet. As an example in this tutorial, we’ll be using data consisting of hours spent studying and final exam scores for a select group of students. (Click any image for a larger view.)
Step 2: Highlight the columns that contain the data you want to represent in the scatter plot. In this example, those columns are Hours Spent Studying and Exam Score.
Step 3: Open the Insert tab on the Excel ribbon. Click on Scatter in the Charts section to expand the chart options box. Select the first item, Scatter with only Markers, from this box.
After making this selection, the initial scatter plot will be created in the same worksheet. You can resize this chart window and drag it to any other part of the worksheet. If you want to move the chart to a new worksheet, click here for instructions.
Step 4: Make any formatting or design changes you wish in the Design, Layout, and Format tabs located under Chart Tools on the Excel ribbon. Most of these changes will be based on your own personal preferences, but there are a couple that we’ll discuss here.
Continue on to page 2 for scatter plot formatting tips and instructions.
