WorksheetFunction.StDev Method

  • Article
Excel Developer Reference

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).

Syntax

expression.StDev(Arg1, Arg2, Arg3, Arg4, Arg5, Arg6, Arg7, Arg8, Arg9, Arg10, Arg11, Arg12, Arg13, Arg14, Arg15, Arg16, Arg17, Arg18, Arg19, Arg20, Arg21, Arg22, Arg23, Arg24, Arg25, Arg26, Arg27, Arg28, Arg29, Arg30)

expression   A variable that represents a WorksheetFunction object.

Parameters

Name Required/Optional Data Type Description
Arg1 - Arg30 Required Variant Number1, number2, ... - 1 to 30 number arguments 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.

Return Value
Double

Remarks

  • STDEV assumes that its arguments are a sample of the population. If your data represents the entire population, then compute the standard deviation using STDEVP.

  • The standard deviation is calculated using the "unbiased" or "n-1" method.

  • Arguments can either be numbers or 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 an array or reference, only numbers in that array or reference are counted. Empty cells, logical values, text, or error values in the array or reference are ignored.

  • Arguments that are error values or text that cannot be translated into numbers cause errors.

  • If you want to include logical values and text representations of numbers in a reference as part of the calculation, use the STDEVA function.

  • STDEV uses the following formula:

    Formula

    where x is the sample mean AVERAGE(number1,number2,…) and n is the sample size.

See Also