Buzz
In this article, Mytour will guide you on how to find the average and standard deviation of a data set using Microsoft Excel 2007.
Steps
Enter Data
Open Microsoft Excel by clicking or double-clicking the application icon. The icon features a green 'X' on a white and green background.
- If your Excel document already contains data, simply double-click to open it in Excel 2007 and proceed directly to step calculating the average.
Select any cell as your first data point. Click once on the cell where you want to enter the first number.
- Choose a cell above the column that you want to use for the rest of the data.
Enter the number. Type the first number from your data set.
Press ↵ Enter to input that number into the selected cell and move the cursor to the next cell in the column.
Enter the remaining numbers. Type each data point, press Enter, and repeat this process until all data points are entered in the column with the first data point. This will make calculating the average and standard deviation much easier.
Find the average value
Click on a blank cell to place the cursor there.
Enter the formula for "average value" =AVERAGE( ) into the cell.
Position the cursor between the parentheses by pressing the left arrow key once or by clicking in between the parentheses in the formula text box at the start of the document.
Add your data range. You can type the data range by entering the first cell name in the data list, followed by a colon, and then the last cell name in the column. For example, if the data ranges from cell A1 to cell A11, you would enter A1:A11 within the parentheses.
- Your complete formula will look like: =AVERAGE(A1:A11)
- If you wish to calculate the average of specific numbers (rather than the entire data range), you can input each cell reference with commas separating them. For example, to find the average of A1, A3, and A10, type =AVERAGE(A1,A3,A10).
Press ↵ Enter to execute the formula and display the average value of the selected numbers in the current cell.
Find the standard deviation
Click on any empty cell to place the cursor there.
Enter the formula for "standard deviation" =STDEV( ) into the cell.
Position the cursor between the parentheses by pressing the left arrow key once or by clicking in between the parentheses in the formula box at the start of the document.
Add your data range. You can enter the data range by typing the first cell of your data list, followed by a colon, and then the last cell in the column. For example, if the data ranges from A1 to A11, you will write A1:A11 within the parentheses.
- Your complete formula will be: =STDEV(A1:A11)
- If you wish to calculate the standard deviation of a few numbers (not the whole data range), you can enter each cell name containing the data within the parentheses and separate them with commas. For instance, to find the standard deviation of A1, A3, and A10, you will use =STDEV(A1,A3,A10).
Press ↵ Enter to execute the formula, calculate the standard deviation for the selected numbers, and display the result in the current cell.
Tip
- Changing any cell value within the data range will update all related formulas and corresponding results.
- You can also apply these instructions to newer versions of Excel (e.g., Excel 2016).
Warning
- Double-check the data point list before calculating the average and standard deviation.
