Sorting Data with Spreadsheets

This tutorial uses Google spreadsheets to sort data. Other spreadsheet programs work in a similar way - play around and see how they differ.

There is sample data for this tutorial here.

Walkthrough: Sorting a dataset.

1. Select the whole sheet you want to sort. Do this by clicking on the right upper grey field, between the row and column names.
2. Select “Sort Range…” from the “Data” menu – this will open an additional Selection
3. Check the “Data has header row” checkbox
4. Select the column you want to sort by in the dropdown menu
5. Try to sort by GDP – Which country has the lowest?
6. Try again with different values, can you sort ascending and descending?

Tip: Be careful! A common mistake is to forget to select all the data. If you sort without selecting all the data, the rows will no longer match up.