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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Value |
Category |
|
| 2 | 10 |
A |
|
| 3 | 15 |
A |
|
| 4 | 20 |
B |
|
| 5 | 25 |
B |
|
| 6 | 30 |
C |
Sample formulas
| Use case | Formula | Explanation and Result |
|---|---|---|
| Calculate the population standard deviation of an entire data set. | =STDEV.P(A2:A6) |
Measures how much all 5 values vary from their average, treating them as the complete population rather than a sample. Result: 7.07106781186548 |
| Calculate the population standard deviation of just a subset of a data set. | =STDEV.P(A2:A3) |
Measures the variability of only the two "Category A" values. Result: 2.5 |
| Calculate the population standard deviation of values typed directly into the formula. | =STDEV.P(5, 15, 78.55, 130) |
Measures the variability across four literal values instead of pulling from a range. Result: 50.6491038296829 |
| Calculate the population standard deviation of a range plus an extra value. | =STDEV.P(A2:A6, 35) |
Adds the literal value 35 to the five values in A2:A6 before measuring the variability of the combined population. Result: 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.