Description
Use this function to calculate the standard deviation of an entire population. Can be used with CHILDREFS.
STDEV.P calculates standard deviation using the "n" method, ignoring logical values and text. It calculates this using only the values you specify as arguments. STDEV.P is often used in quality control applications, financial analysis, and scientific research where you have data for the entire population.
Syntax
STDEV.P(number_1, […, number_254])
Inputs
This function accepts the following arguments:
| Name | Required | Description | Valid input |
|---|---|---|---|
number_1 |
Yes | The first number or range in the population to be evaluated. | A number, a reference to a cell containing a number, a range of cells containing numbers, or a formula that evaluates to a number. |
number_n |
No | Additional population values. | A number, a reference to a cell containing a number, or a formula which results in either of these. Up to 254 additional values can be considered. |
Example
Sample data
| A | B |
|---|---|
| Value | Category |
| 10 | A |
| 15 | A |
| 20 | B |
| 25 | B |
| 30 | C |
Sample formulas
| Formula | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|
=STDEV.P(A2:A6) |
Calculates the population standard deviation of all values | 7.07106781186548 |
=STDEV.P(A2:A3) |
Calculates the population standard deviation of Category A values | 2.5 |
=STDEV.P(5, 15, 78.55, 130) |
Calculates the population standard deviation using direct values | 50.6491038296829 |
=STDEV.P(A2:A6, 35) |
Calculates the population standard deviation including an additional value | 8.53912563829967 |
Notes
- STDEV.P assumes that its arguments are the entire population. If your data represents only a portion of the population to be measured, use STDEV.S instead to estimate the standard deviation.
- To evaluate a population that contains logical values and/or numbers as text in addition to numbers, use STDEVA.
- STDEV.P uses the following formula:
√(Σ(x - μ)² / n), where x is each value, μ is the mean, and n is the number of values. - Arguments can be numbers, names, arrays, or references that contain numbers.
- Logical values and text representations of numbers that you type directly into the list of arguments are counted.
- If an argument is a range or reference, only numbers in that range or reference are counted.
- Empty cells, logical values, text, or error values in the array or reference are ignored.
Tips
- You can combine STDEV.P with other statistical functions such as AVERAGE or MEDIAN for a more comprehensive analysis of your data.
- Be careful when interpreting standard deviation: a smaller standard deviation value indicates that the data is clustered more closely around the mean, while a larger value indicates more spread out data.
Related functions
AVERAGE
AVERAGEA
AVERAGEIF
AVERAGEIFS
LARGE
MAX
MAXA
MAXIFS
MEDIAN
MIN
MINA
MINIFS
PERCENTILE
PERCENTILE.EXC
PERCENTILE.INC
QUARTILE
QUARTILE.EXC
QUARTILE.INC
RANK
RANK.AVG
RANK.EQ
SMALL
STDEV
STDEV.P
STDEV.S
STDEVA
STDEVPA