Defending Dignity A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions on Monitoring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 8.1.5. Sorting data The first thing to do when looking at a new dataset is to become familiar with it. This involves sorting the data so that it makes the most sense. Say, for example, you have a spreadsheet with data on GDP, healthcare expenditure and life expectancy for all countries, over a number of years. To familiarize yourself with the data, you might want to look at the data first in order by country then in order by date. To sort the whole spreadsheet, use the following steps: 1. Select the “Data” tab and then the “Sort” button. This will open an additional dialog box. 2. Select the column you would like to sort by in the drop down menu; you can sort ascending or descending (or A-to-Z or Z-to-A, if alphabetical). 3. You can also choose multiple criteria to sort by (e.g. first by country, then by date), by clicking the “Add level” button: 86