STDEVA

Estimates standard deviation based on a sample. The standard deviation is a measure of how widely values are dispersed from the average value (the mean). Text and logical values such as TRUE and FALSE are included in the calculation.

Syntax

STDEVA(value1,value2, ...)

Value1,value2, ...   are 1 to 30 values corresponding to a sample of a population. You can also use a single array or a reference to an array instead of arguments separated by commas.

Remarks

• STDEVA assumes that its arguments are a sample of the population. If your data represents the entire population, you must compute the standard deviation using STDEVPA.
• Arguments that contain TRUE evaluate as 1; arguments that contain text or FALSE evaluate as 0 (zero). If the calculation must not include text or logical values, use the STDEV worksheet function instead.
• The standard deviation is calculated using the "nonbiased" or "n-1" method.
• STDEVA uses the following formula:

  

Example

Suppose 10 tools stamped from the same machine during a production run are collected as a random sample and measured for breaking strength. The sample values (1345, 1301, 1368, 1322, 1310, 1370, 1318, 1350, 1303, 1299) are stored in A2:E3, respectively. STDEV estimates the standard deviation of breaking strengths for all the tools.

STDEV(A2:E3) equals 27.46