4.4 The OR Function – Intro to Excel 2016 Data Analysis

4.4 The OR Function ​(Module 4 Section 4.4)

The OR function is great to use when you only need one condition that needs to be met in order to get a TRUE result (FIGURE 1).
OR returns a TRUE output if any its arguments evaluate to TRUE. OR returns a FALSE output only if all of its argument inputs are FALSE.

A common use for the OR function is to expand the usefulness of other functions that perform logical tests. For example, the IF function (we will cover it also) performs a logical test and returns one value if the test evaluates to TRUE and another value if the test evaluates to FALSE.

​By using the OR function as the logical test argument of the IF function, you can test many different conditions instead of just one. 

                       FIGURE 1
If any Function Argument input is TRUE, the output is TRUE.
SCENARIO: You have several patients who have received comprehensive exams and want to know who has a health condition that is Good (Blue Status) or Acceptable (Black Status).
Practice Exercise 6: Concerning the OR function, use the above table to construct arguments for each employee. Use the Insert Function dialog box to construct each argument.
STEP 1A: Enter data from OR table above. Then make cell C2 the active cell.
​Ensure your data entered is in the same cells as in the example above.
STEP 1B: Make cell C2 the active cell.
STEP 2A: Select Insert Function. There are multiple ways to select the Insert Function.
​Option 1: Select  Icon on the Formula Bar (FIGURE 2).
FIGURE 2
​Option 2: From the Ribbon Function Library section  (FIGURE 3).
FIGURE 3
STEP 3A: ​From the “Or select a category” drop-down arrow, select “Logical” (FIGURE 4).

STEP 3B: The Logical category functions will appear including the OR function. Ensure OR is highlighted. If you do not see it, scroll down. 

STEP 3C: Once visible, click it to highlight it.

STEP 3D: Select the OK button.

FIGURE 4
STEP 4A: Joe’s health condition color code is in cell B2; that will be our 1st argument.
Our scenario is checking if his security color classification is anything other than blue or black.
 
STEP 4B: Enter: B2=”Blue”  ARGUMENT #1 (FIGURE 5).
B2=”Black”  ARGUMENT #2 (You must enter quotes)

STEP 4C: Select OK button.

FIGURE 5
Notice that as you are entering the arguments, they are also being entered into cell C2 as shown by FIGURE 6.
FIGURE 6
STEP 5: ​Move mouse over to the bottom-right corner of cell C2 and Autofill down through cell C6 to obtain the OR results for the other patients (FIGURE 7).
FIGURE 7
​STEP 6: Since Joe, John, Tom, and Susan have health conditions that were within the confines of this scenario, they had a TRUE result. James did NOT have an acceptable health condition, thus FALSE.
FIGURE 8
END OF PRACTICE EXERCISE 6