It is important that data analysts be able to work with such complex data files. He provided an extended example of computer code to extract data from a set of files with complex arrangements. Murrell ( Citation2013) contrasted data that are formatted for humans to view by eye with data that are formatted for a computer. Analyzing and visualizing data in a separate program, or at least in a separate copy of the data file, reduces the risk of contaminating or destroying the raw data in the spreadsheet. Most spreadsheet programs allow users to perform all of these tasks, however we believe that spreadsheets are best suited to data entry and storage, and that analysis and visualization should happen separately. Spreadsheets are often used as a multipurpose tool for data entry, storage, analysis, and visualization. Researchers who use spreadsheets should be aware of these common errors and design spreadsheets that are tidy, consistent, and as resistant to mistakes as possible. Microsoft Excel converts some gene names to dates and stores dates differently between operating systems, which can cause problems in downstream analyses (Zeeberg et al. Popular spreadsheet programs also make certain types of errors easy to commit and difficult to rectify. Many researchers have examined error rates in spreadsheets, and Panko ( Citation2008) reported that in 13 audits of real-world spreadsheets, an average of 88% contained errors. The dangers of spreadsheets are real, however-so much so that the European Spreadsheet Risks Interest Group keeps a public archive of spreadsheet “horror stories” ( ). Amid this debate, spreadsheets have continued to play a significant role in researchers’ workflows, and it is clear that they are a valuable tool that researchers are unlikely to abandon completely. Others have advised researchers on how to use spreadsheets to improve their productivity (Wagner and Keisler Citation2006). Some writers have admonished that “real programmers don’t use spreadsheets” and that we must “stop that subversive spreadsheet” (Casimir Citation1992 Chadwick Citation2003). Spreadsheets, for all of their mundane rectangularness, have been the subject of angst and controversy for decades.
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