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Problems with spreadsheets

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By McDonald, T.   |  Updated 24th of March 2020 Small errors in spreadsheets have been the cause of major problems in real life. Examining the kinds of common errors in spreadsheets helps us understand the general problems working with data can present. In order to understand these problems, it is a good idea to look at what a spreadsheet is and how equations can go wrong. Spreadsheet ideas   A spreadsheet consists of one or more sheets: A sheet is a two-dimensional (array) of cells in which each cell is referenced by an index consisting of its column letter and row number. A cell can contain data or a calculation (known as a formula). There is a text box, known as a formula bar, in which the contents of a cell are displayed, and which is used for creating and editing the contents of the cell. What is a spreadsheet?   A sheet can contain one or more: Tables (sheets) A table is a two-dimensional array of data; some data is numeric, some is text. The tabl

Why People Volunteer

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By McDonald, T.   |  Date 3 of August 2019 Charities are taking over the high street and all of them have volunteers. What kind of people volunteer and why?  While I have been volunteering, I took note of the people and the reasons why they volunteer. I found four main categories of people in the volunteer sector: academics wishing to gain hands on experience; people wish to give something back to the community; peers who wish to support one another through an experience; people looking to escape loneliness. Academics Gaining Experience I found academics volunteering for one main reason: experience. For instance, the volunteer police force gives people experience to go with their degrees in psychology and criminology. In a different type of volunteer role, students in management gain experience of how an organisation is run through volunteering in shops or charities aimed at supporting people with special needs. Charities have lots of interesting positions; subseq