XL: Function to Compute Average Without High and Low Values

 Last reviewed: February 3, 1998
Article ID: Q108280
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
  • Microsoft Excel for Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.0a
  • Microsoft Excel for Windows NT, version 5.0
  • Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
  • Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SUMMARY

For statistical purposes, you may want to calculate the average of a sample excluding its highest and lowest values. In Microsoft Excel, you can create the following formula to calculate an average after excluding the highest and lowest values: 

   =(SUM(region)-MAX(region)-MIN(region))/(COUNT(region)-2)
NOTE: You must include the parentheses the way they appear in the above formula so that the function is computed in the right order.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web: 

   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/default.asp
Following is a sample Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications function that incorporates the formula described in the "Summary" section of this article.

Sample Visual Basic Procedure

   Function HiLoAverage(region) As Variant
      With Application
         HiLoAverage = (.Sum(region) - .Max(region) - .Min(region)) / _
            (.Count(region) - 2)
      End With
   End Function

REFERENCES

"Visual Basic Language Reference," version 3.0, page 231

"Visual Basic User's Guide," version 5.0, pages 50-51

Microsoft Excel 97 and Microsoft Excel 98

For more information about using custom functions, click the Index tab/button in Microsoft Excel 97 Help or MS Excel Help, type the following text 

   functions, overview
and then double-click the selected text to go to the "About user-defined functions" topic.

Microsoft Excel 7.0

For more information about using custom functions, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel 7.0 Help, type the following text 

   functions, user-defined
and then double-click the selected text to go to the "Writing a user- defined worksheet function" topic.

Microsoft Excel 5.0 for Windows and Macintosh

For more information about using custom functions, click the Search button in Help, and type: 

  user-defined functions
Click the Show Topics button, select the topic "Overview of Creating a User-Defined Function", and click Go To.

Additional query words: 5.00 7.00 XL98 XL97 XL7 XL5
Keywords : kbcode kbprg PgmOthr
Version : WINDOWS:5.0,5.0c,7.0,7.0a,97; MACINTOSH:5.0,98
Platform : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto

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Last reviewed: February 3, 1998
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