STDEVA
Estimates the sample standard deviation of values, treating text as 0 and TRUE as 1, FALSE as 0. Unlike STDEV which ignores text and logical values.
STDEVA(value1, [value2], ...)Arguments
value1First value, reference, or range.value2Optional. Up to 254 additional values, references, or ranges.(optional)
=STDEVA(10, 20, 30)Sample standard deviation of three numbers
=STDEVA(10, 20, TRUE)TRUE counts as 1 in the calculation
- •Use the sample formula (divides by n − 1)
- •Use STDEV.S if you want to ignore text and logical values
- •At least 2 numeric values required, otherwise returns #DIV/0!
- •Forgetting that STDEVA treats text as 0 and TRUE/FALSE as 1/0, which can skew a standard deviation calculation if a range includes stray text entries that were meant to be ignored entirely
- •Confusing STDEVA with STDEV.S - STDEV.S ignores text and logical values completely, while STDEVA includes them using the 0/1 conversion rules, and choosing the wrong one changes the result whenever non-numeric entries are present
- •Applying STDEVA to a range with fewer than two numeric-equivalent values, which returns a #DIV/0! error since sample standard deviation requires at least two data points
STDEV.SIgnores text and logical values entirely rather than converting them to 0 or 1 like STDEVA, giving a different result whenever non-numeric entries are present.VARACalculates variance using the same text/logical-inclusive rules as STDEVA, the squared value that STDEVA takes the square root of.AVERAGEAOften calculated alongside STDEVA to describe both the center and spread of a dataset that includes text or logical values.How does STDEVA handle text values in the range?
It treats any text as 0, rather than ignoring it the way STDEV.S does - this can noticeably shift the result if your data includes stray text entries you actually wanted excluded.
What's the difference between STDEVA and STDEV.S?
STDEV.S ignores text and logical values completely, calculating standard deviation only from genuine numbers. STDEVA instead converts TRUE to 1, FALSE to 0, and any text to 0, including them in the calculation.
Why does STDEVA return #DIV/0!?
There are fewer than two numeric-equivalent values in the range - sample standard deviation requires at least two data points, since its formula divides by n-1.
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