I suggest that you go through the exercise as outlined in the Quickstart Guide. Although you may not be familiar with the type of data being examined, this exercise was designed to introduce you to a number of the features of Data Desk.

Run Data Desk and Import (under OPEN) the file Fox.text . When the first screen appears select Use these variables. You should have eight icons on the desk top Ç the eight variables in the Fox data set.

Open each variable by clicking on each of the icons. You can edit values or add a new row to the matrix. Click on the variable containing the Y-coordinates -- a Y should appear. Hold down the command key and click on the V coordinate -- an X should appear. Under plot select scatterdiagrams. You should have a plot of the sample localities on your screen. Under plot select plot options and select black on white. On the tool menu click on the ?. Position the cursor over one of the plotted points and click. You should see the sample number. Verify that you have the correct spatial positioning.

Click on the Sandstone icon -- note that a Y appears on the icon. Under Plot select Histogram. Under Plot select Plot Options and select white on black. Click on a row of the matrix -- Location. The "location" on the sample is highlighted on the histogram. Click on the Histogram window (which makes it the active window) and under Modify select Scale. Change the bin width to 50.

Click on the knife tool on the tool menu. Click on the thickest group of sandstones. The location of these thick sandstone localities should be marked on the map. Prepare histograms of shale, carbonate and evaporite. With a little experimentation you should begin to get an idea as to the spatial distribution of the four lithologies.

Click on Sandstone. Shift-Click on Shale. (A Y should appear on the Sandstone icon and a modified X on the Shale icon). Under Plot select Scatterdiagrams -- Sandstone is plotted on the Y-axis and Shale on the X-axis. Click on the ? on the tool panel. Position the cursor over one of the points on the scatterdiagram and the sample number appears. Note that the position of the sample is also highlighted on the Sandstone histogram. Change the scale so that Sandstone ranges from 0 to 500 feet and Shale from 0 to 1000 feet. Click on the knife tool. Select (holding down on the shift key) those samples with more than 250 feet of sandstone. Click on the x on the symbol panel. Prepare a plot of Shale (X) versus Evaporite (Y). Note that the X's (Sandstone greater than 250 feet) are retained.

Shift-click on Shale, Carbonate, and Evaporite. Select Rotating Plot. Click on the hand with the arrow tool. With this tool you can rotate the plot. If you "push" with tool and let go of the mouse, the plot will continue to rotate.

Close all of the windown except for the variables. Shite-click on the four variables. Select Plot Matrix. For the moment ignore the plots with nscores on the X-axis. The closer these plots are to a straight line, the more likely it is that the variable follows a normal distribution. (Crudely, normally distributed variables will exhibit a symmetrical, bell-shaped historgram. You might confirm this by looking at the histogram for Evaporite thickness.) For now, look at each of the scatterdiagrams. Click on the lasso tool and "lasso" a group of points on one of the plot. Note that the selected points are highlighted. Click on one of the colors on the color panel.

Exploratory Data Analysis should begin by looking at the plot matrix and histograms.

Close all of the windows (look at the main menu and find a command that will close all of the windows at once.

Click on the filing cabined icon and then on the data icon. The variable icons should appear at the bottom of your desktop. From Manip select Transform and then New Derived Variable. In the window that opens type Sandstone+Shale+Carbonate+Evaporite. Name this variable Total. A new icon will appear in the variable window. If you click on this icon you will not see the values. Any changes to the variables will cause the Total to be adjusted. Prepare a Histogram of Total stratigraphic thickness.

Close the windows and click on Sandstone. Choose Calc, Calculation Options and Select Summary Statistics. Note that you can design a report to include those measures that you are interested in. Click on Median. Choose Calc, Summaries, and as Variables. Click on the Sand icon. The selected summary statistics are displayed.

Prepare a histogram of Total Thickness. Create a new variable with the Data, New Derived Variable command. In the box type IF Total <750 THEN "thin" ELSE "Thick". A new variable icon appears. Name the variable THICK/THIN. Each sample is evaluated. If total thickness is less than 750 feet the sample is coded as THIN; otherwise it is THICK. Click on Sandstone and shift-click on THICK/THIN. Choose Calc, Summaries, by Groups. Summary statistics are given for Sandstone thickness in the two groups -- THICK sections and THIN sections.

Drag the icon for Shale onto the Statistics window and place it on the name Sandstone. The statistics are recomputed for Shale in the two groups.

There is no end to the manipulations that you can undertake. During the new two weeks spend sometime experiemnting with DataDesk and its many opitons for plotting, displaying and grouping data.