Epidemic Curve Exercise

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(PDF format, 390KB,  3 pages)

1. Download “Epi curve exercise.xls”.

  1. Save a copy of the spreadsheet to your computer.
  2. Begin in the “Step1” tab

2. Make a column chart

  1. Select data, including column headings
  2. Click Insert > Column > Stacked 2D column

3. Format the chart

  1. Remove the gridlines: right click on one of the gridlines, select Format Gridlines > No Line
  2. Remove the chart border: right click on the chart, select Format chart area > Border color > No line
  3. Format y axis: right click on the axis, select Format axis > Axis options, change major unit to “1”
  4. Reduce space between bars to zero: right-click on one bar, select Format data series > Series options and reduce gap width to 0%
  5. Delete title and legend for now

4. Adding a new series (this is what will allow you to have each case as a box)

  1. Copy the following into columns H and I (or any other empty columns).
  2. Select/highligh cells H1 to I29, click CTRL+c to copy, click on the chart
  3. Click Home > Paste > Paste Special > Add cells as “New series”, Values (Y) in “Columns”, select “Categories (X Labels) in First Column” and then select “OK”.

5. Change the new series graph type to a scatter point (xy) line type

  1. Right click on one of the newly added bars from Step 4 and select Change series chart type
  2. Select XY (Scatter) – Scatter with straight lines, click OK

6. Final formatting

  1. Format the right y axis: right click on the axis, select Format axis > Axis options, change maximum to 10 (and minimum of 0)
  2. Delete the right axis
  3. Format the top x axis: right click on the axis, select Format axis > Axis options, change maximum to 1 (and minimum of 0)
  4. Delete the top x axis
  5. Format the lines: Right click on the lines, select Format data series. i. Line colour > Solid line, colour = white. ii. Line style, change width to 1
  6. Borders to bars: Right click on one of the boxes, select Format data series i. Border color > Solid line, colour = white. ii. Border styles, increase width to 1
  7. Add legend, and axis titles, standardize font sizes and alignment