1. Duplicates
2. Misspellings
The most common data quality issues are difficult to resolve in Excel because of their rigidity. It forces analysts to do a ton of manual work, which results in a high probability of an error being introduced to the data set. Those common issues include:
- Blanks
- Nulls
- Outliers
- Duplicates
- Extra spaces
- Misspellings
- Abbreviations and domain-specific variations
- Formula error codes
When introduced, these errors can skew or even invalidate the resulting analysis. A smart tool would minimize the possibility of error by automating the manual work. In Excel, you might look for data quality issues in one of two ways. First, you might use auto filters on specific columns to scan for anomalies and blanks or you might use a pivot table to find gaps and discrepancies.
In either case, you're scanning for the anomalies yourself. Suffice it to say that's not a very efficient process. It also means accuracy is only as good as the analyst's eye, so the probability of error varies throughout the day.