Solution to Brain Teaser #6: Data Clean-Up and Count

Solution

Using MS-Word

1. Select the data using:
   • Drag (25 seconds)
   • Or the Scroll wheel (4 seconds)
   • Or Ctrl-A ( .5 seconds)
2. Copy (Ctrl-V), then paste (Ctrl-P) into a blank MS-Word document
3. Convert the text into a two column table
   Separate with Other (space character)
4. Delete the second (initial) column
5. Covert the remaining (first name) column to text
   Separate with Paragraphs
6. Select all (Ctrl-A)
7. Sort ascending
8. Ctrl-F
9. Search in turn for "Barbara" and "Wanda" and count
10. Count total names with Review> Wordcount
    Number of names equals number of paragraphs

Using MS-Excel

1. Select data
2. Paste into cell A1 of a blank Excel worksheet
3. Into cell A2 enter the following formula:
   =if(iserror(left(A1,find(".",A1))),A1,left(A1,find(".",A1)-2))
4. Copy the formula down column 2 to the end of the list
5. Column 2 displays first names only
6. Total names equals row number of last name in list
7. Ctrl-F
8. Search in turn for "Barbara" and "Wanda" and count