Date	Actual	Moving Ave 6	Moving Ave 4	Moving Ave 2	E S = .1	E S = .5	ES = .8
42155	33152
42185	32160
42216	33922
42247	31761
42277	33299
42308	40277
42338	25154
42369	29190
42400	29088
42429	32852
42460	33986
42490	35624
42521	34889
42551	33895
42582	36724
42613	33141
42643	35416
42674	42979
42704	27856
42735	31050
42766	31944
42794	37138
42825	35485
42855	38610

Part 2: Moving Averages (Use worksheet titled Most Recent Sales)

1. On the Data tab, click Data Analysis.
2. Select Moving Average and click OK.
3. Click in the Input Range box and type or select the range $B$2:$B$25
4. Click in the Interval box and type 6.
5. Click in the Output Range box and type or select cell $C$2:$C$25
6. Click OK. Your entries in the Moving Average dialog box should look like this: Explanation: because we set the interval to 6, the moving average is the average of the previous 5 data points and the current data point. Excel cannot calculate the moving average for the first 5 data points because there are not enough previous data points.

Select Column C and format cells:

1. Repeat steps 2 to 7
   1. interval = 4, output range = $D$2:$D$25 (use Column D)
   2. interval = 2, output range = $E$2:$E$25 (use Column E)
2. Have Excel produce a scatterplot: Click on cell A1 and drag through to cell E25.
   1. In the Insert tab, click on Scatter in the Charts menu.
   2. Select the first chart in the second row of Scatter menu (Scatterplot with Straight Lines and Markers).
   3. Click OK and your scatterplot will appear with your four graphs.

Part 2 Analysis

1. Looking at your moving averages graph, which moving average span "smooths" the actual times series the most
2. Which moving average span most resembles the pattern of the actual time series?
3. What are the advantages/disadvantages of shorter and longer spans?