Introduction to Microsoft Access
More and more journalists discover the possibilities of doing their own data analysis, from the very simple to pretty advanced. Usually, Microsoft Excel is the tool of choice. That is a good choice, because Excel is available on most office computers, is easy to learn and quite powerful for those who know how to drive the programme to its limits.
But somewhere along the way from simple to complex, and from small to huge, the question arises whether Excel would still be the first choice. Using a dedicated database programme may be more appropriate. This is definitively the case if you want to link various tables of data, either from the same source, or from different sources. Then a database program like Microsoft Access is much easier to handle, faster, more robust and less prone to mistakes.
Do you need to learn Access, then? Only you can tell, depending on your requirements and skills. The aim of this training is to help you find out. Access is definitively more difficult – especially less intuitive – than Excel, but you do not have to be a rocket scientist to master it. More than with Excel you need to think in advance of what you are going to do. The training will show you some real life examples of data analysis with Access and will address the added value of the programme compared to Excel.
Without basic knowledge of Excel it is probably not very useful to attend this session. But you do not have to be an Excel wizard, nor a statistics expert or a computer geek. Access is not that difficult. There will be ample opportunity for questions and interaction, also at a very basic level. This is your opportunity to ask.
Access is too complicated to learn in a one-hour session. But after this session you know what the programme does, you are able to judge whether you need to learn it, and hopefully have acquired the confidence that you will be able to master it if you want to. Additional training or self-study will be necessary in that case, though.
Trainer: Dick van Eijk
When? Saturday November 22nd, 10.45 AM
Where? Erasmushogeschool, Room 1.10
