Microfit Tutorial Intro
Microfit Tutorial Intro
21/5/2001
Guide Outline
Graphs
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Graphics
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1.
To access Microfit from the Middlesex networks click on the Start button, Middlesex Local Software,
Mathematical Applications, and then select Microfit v4
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2. In the Data frequency section select one of the radio buttons that best describes your data, i.e.
annual, Monthly..etc.
3. Input a date for your sample data in the Start and the End combo box
4. Enter the total number of variables in the number of Variable combo box.
5. Click on the Okay button.
2.2 Entering data into Microfit spreadsheet
Once you've entered all the required information in the " New data input from the keyboard "dialog
box, you will be presented with a variable box in which to enter information about your variables.
The number of variables shown in the variable table depends upon the variable numbers that you've
entered in the variable combo box in step 4.
In the variables section, enter the name for the variables you want to analyse simply by typing over
the X1, X2etc. In the description section add a little note that will serve as a reminder of what
the variables are or what they represent, once you've completed your information click on the go
button. You will now be presented with the "Data Editor" where you can enter your observations,
simply by typing over the "None" values in the variable cells. To view or change your variable names
and description click on variable button on the "Command Editor". Variable description can have an
option of up to 79 character in length for any given variable.
(FIT)
ASCII :
(DAT)
(TSD)
To save your file in Microfit with any of the file formats mentioned above simply click on File
command in the menu bar and select "Save As" from the drop down menu. In the file name box
enter a name for your file. In the Save File As Type select either Mfit data file (*.FIT), ASCII data
files (*.DAT), CSV files (*.CSV) or AREMOS (*.TSD). In the Drivers box select the destination
where the file is to be saved, i.e., floppy (a:), Personal hard drive (c:\) or personal network drive
(h:\). If you do not specify the type of file you want to save your file as, Microfit by default will save
your file as a Microfit file format with a "*.FIT" file extension.
4. Graphs
4.1 Creating graphs in Microfit
A number of high-resolution graphs can be created in Microfit such as; Histograms, scatter diagrams,
simple and xplots.
4.1.1 How to create a histogram
Histograms are drawn for quantitative univariate variables only. To create a histogram, select to go
into Command editor box and type hist followed by the name of the variable and click on the Go
button. For example if you want to create a histogram of the sales variable you would type "hist
sales".
Histograms formulae is
His x
Scatter diagrams are only used to display information about two (bivariate) quantitative sets of data.
To create a scatter diagram, click on the Process button in the Command editor window. In the
Command Editor box type scatter followed by the names of the two variables separated by a space
and click on the Go button. For example if the two variables were sales and price, you would type
scatter sales price.
Scatter formulae is scatter x y
Simple plots are graphs, which are used to plot a number of variables (maximum of three) against
time. To create a simple plot, you need to be in the Command Editor box then type plot followed by
the names of the variables (separated by a space each time) you want to plot against time and press
the Go button . For example if you have the variables sales, price and discount etc, you would type the
following command Plot sales price discount.
Simple plot formulae is
plot x z y
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Xplots
Xplots are graphs that are used to plot a number of variables (maximum of three) against another
variable. To create a XPlot, go to the Command Editor box and type XPlot followed by the variable
names separated by a space each time. For example if you if you want to plot sales, discount and price
against location you would type the following command, XPlot sales discount price location.
Make sure to reserve the variable you want to plot against to last. Hence in this example, all variables
are being plotted against location.
Xplot formulae is
XPlot x1 x2 x3 y
To change the Font type, select the appropriate font from the "Name" dropdown list. To change the
format of your characters (bold, italic, underline) select one from the radio buttons.
To change the size of font, click on the reset button and with the mouse drag the cursor to either side.
Make sure you click on the right button in the "Apply To" section in order to specify where the
However, graphs saved with the "*.MFW" file extension can only be viewed in Microfit. Graphs
saved in any of the other formats cannot be viewed in Microfit, but can be viewed using Microsoft
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Word or any software that has image viewing facility. Graphs saved with the *.MFW file extension
can be thus viewed in Microfit by clicking on File command from the menu bar, and selecting view
from the drop down menu. Once you've selected the view option you will be presented with an Open
dialog box. In the Open dialog box select the relevant drive from the Drive drop down list and the
directory name that contains your file (from the Directories list box) and select the file that contains
your graph(s), and click on the okay button.
Saving your graphs with a "*.BMP or *.WMF" click on the image to file
icon in the graph
window. In the displayed Save As dialog box choose the file format you require from the Save Files
as Type drop down list. Enter a name for your graph file in the File Name box. Select the appropriate
drive and directory from the Driver drop down list and Directories listing where the file is to be
stored and click on the okay button.
To save your files with a Microfit file format "*.MFW", click on the third icon of the graph window.
In the Save As dialog box that appears choose the "*.MFW" format from the Save Files as Type drop
down list. Enter a name for your graph file in the File Name box. Select the appropriate drive and
directory from the Driver drop down list and Directories listing where the file is to be stored and click
on the okay button.
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printer that is set up on the PC or network workstation, so make sure that the printer selected is the
right one to use.
5.
Microfit contains a vast range of analysis tools, however for simplicity sake; this section will be
geared to using simple commands such as; correlation, time trend, moving averages and summary
statistics, and hence obtain a measurable meaningful analysis of any given data. All commands must
be written in the Command Editor window and are initiated by a single click on the Go button,
alternatively the "go command" can be entered manually by typing <go> after the formulae.
Editor Box
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Make sure to type in the "COR" command in the Command Editor box. Alternatively you could
select the COR command from the Commands drop down list, followed by a single click on the Go
button.
The formulae for a single variable application is: COR x (number of observations)<go>
The COR command can also be used to investigate relationships between variables. This method will
help obtain the correlation coefficient of these variables as well as the summary statistics discussed
above. So to investigate the relationship between variables, make sure to type in the COR command
followed by the names of the variables separated by space. So if you had the variables sales, price,
and location you would type COR sales price location.
Make sure that to type the command in Command Editor Box followed by a single click on the GO
button.
The formulae for a multi- variable application is:
COR X Y Z<go>
N= the nth period used to arrive at a moving average, e.g. a year can have 4 quarters.
For example
For example, If you want to investigate the performance of the sales for the one quarter you would
type Y=MAV (Sales,4). A new column will now be added to your existing data sheet. You can
rename the title of this column by clicking on the Variables button and retyping a new name for this
column in the Variables field. It is also a good practice to include a brief description for this variable
in the Description field (see fig 5).
To calculate a quarterly moving average of a long string of data (3-year data based on 4 quarters for
any given variable), you would type the following
Y4=[x4+x3+x2+x1]/4 where x1 = q1, x2 = q2 ..etc
To calculate the next average you would type :
Y5= [x5+x4+x3+2]/4 where x5 = q1 of the second year, x4 =q4 of the fist year etc
T=CSUM(1)<go>
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6.
Results can be saved in Microfit as an output file with the extensions (*.OUT),(*.LST) or (*.EQU).
Alternatively you can save your analysis in Microsoft Word or any text editing software simply by
following the steps below.
6.1 Saving your analysis in an output file
To save your analysis in an output file click on the Save to a new results file icon located on the
Results window.
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6.3
If you choose to save your results with the above formats, highlight your results then click on the copy
selected text to clipboard icon
Editor window.
In the Command editor Box click on the Edit command from the command editor window and select
the Paste command from the drop down list and your results will be displayed. Once your results are
displayed click on the Save contents of editor box icon. In the "Save As" dialog box that appears
select either file extension from the Save File as _Type drop down list.
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