FREQUENCY formula not populating array - using macbook pro retina

Question

I've been using Open Office spreadsheets - when I use the FREQUENCY formula and add the data and bins, I then get frequency of events against bins.

When I try this in Excel 2011 for Mac, I get only one cell populated.  Searching around I've found suggestions to use CONTROL + SHIFT + ENTER or CMD + ENTER. Neither of these work.

I've paid for Excel but have had to switch back to Open Office for now.  

How can I get Excel to work?

Answer 1

Thanks Mike - tried that but still didn't work.  To save wasting any more time, I did the job in Open Office - where the bins are automatically populated after pressing the return key.  Why the hell microsoft excel has such lousy user interface beats me!

Answer 2

I have tested each of the four methods for creating a frequency distribution, and each method works fine on my OS X 10.10 system running Excel for Mac 2011.

Answer 3

> How can I get Excel to work? <

Here are several ways to get frequency results in Excel for Mac 2011:

(1) Click the Help question-mark-in-a-circle icon, or choose Help > Excel Help from the main menu, and enter Frequency Function. The method described on the FREQUENCY Function help page says (a) type the equals sign and FREQUENCY function with data and bin range arguments in a single cell A13 and press Return, (b) select the range that will contain the frequency results A13:A16 and press Control+U (but do not press Return), and (c) with A13:A16 still selected, press Command+Z+Return.

The range that will contain the frequency results can have the same number of cells as the number of bin values, or it can have one additional cell that will contain the frequency for values that are greater than the highest bin value.

(2) For a method more similar to Excel for Windows, (a) select the range that will contain the frequency results, e.g., A13:A16, (b) type the equals sign and FREQUENCY function with data and bin range arguments but do not press return, and (c) press Command+Return.

(3) Since a frequency distribution is a necessary step for creating a histogram, choose Help > Search, type Histogram, press Return, click the "I can't find the Analysis ToolPak" item, and follow the instructions for downloading StatPlus:mac LE.

(4) If you would like a histogram that is a little bit better than the simple histograms that use the Excel Column chart type (particularly for continuous-valued data and for proper labeling of the horizontal axis), you could try my free Better Histogram add-in, available for download from http://betterhistogram.com/free-download