How to use STDEV.P Google Sheets formula?

The syntax for the STDEV.P formula is =STDEV.P(value1, [value2, ...]), it has 1 required parameter and 1 optional parameter.

STDEV.P

The STDEV.P function is a statistical function that calculates the standard deviation of a population based on a sample of numerical data. It is commonly used to measure the amount of variation or dispersion in a dataset. The formula assumes that the input values represent the entire population, rather than a sample. If the input values represent a sample, you should use the STDEV.S function instead.

How to use STDEV.P formula?
Examples of using STDEV.P formula
STDEV.P formula not working?
Similar formulas to STDEV.P

Usage

Use the STDEV.P formula with the syntax shown below, it has 1 required parameter and 1 optional parameter:

=STDEV.P(value1, [value2, ...])

Parameters:

value1 (required):
The first numeric value or range of values for which you want to calculate the standard deviation.
value2, ... (optional):
Optional. Additional numeric values or ranges of values for which you want to calculate the standard deviation.

Examples

Here are a few example use cases that explain how to use the STDEV.P formula in Google Sheets.

Calculating the standard deviation of a population

You can use STDEV.P to calculate the standard deviation of a population based on a sample of data. For example, if you want to calculate the standard deviation of a set of test scores for a class of students, you can use this function to determine how much variation there is in the scores.

Measuring the spread of data

The standard deviation is a measure of how spread out the data is. If the standard deviation is large, it means that the data is more spread out, while a small standard deviation means that the data is closer together. You can use STDEV.P to easily calculate this value for a set of data.

Identifying outliers

Outliers are data points that fall outside of the expected range of values. You can use the standard deviation to identify outliers in a dataset. Any data points that fall more than 2 standard deviations from the mean are often considered outliers. You can use STDEV.P to calculate the standard deviation and then identify any outliers based on this value.

Common Mistakes

STDEV.P not working? Here are some common mistakes people make when using the STDEV.P Google Sheets Formula:

Forgetting to include all relevant data points

If you forget to include all relevant data points in the STDEV.P function, you will not get an accurate measure of the standard deviation for the entire population.

Using the wrong type of data

The STDEV.P function is designed to work with numerical data. If you try to use it with non-numerical data, you will get an error.

Dividing by the wrong number

When calculating the standard deviation, it is important to use the correct formula. If you divide by the wrong number, you will get an incorrect result.

The following functions are similar to STDEV.P or are often used with it in a formula:

AVERAGE
The AVERAGE function calculates the average (arithmetic mean) of the values passed to it. It is commonly used to find the average of a range of cells containing numerical data.
MEDIAN
The MEDIAN function returns the median (middle) value of a set of numbers. It is commonly used to find the middle value in a range of data points. If the number of data points is even, it returns the average of the two middle values. This function can be useful in statistical analysis and data visualization.
MAX
The MAX function returns the maximum value from a range of cells or a set of supplied values. It is commonly used to find the largest value in a dataset.
MIN
The MIN formula is a statistical function that returns the smallest value in a set of numbers. It is commonly used to find the minimum value from a range of cells or a list of values.
STDEV.S
The STDEV.S formula calculates the standard deviation of a sample of data. It is commonly used to measure the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values from their average. This formula accepts up to 255 arguments, which can be numbers, arrays, or references that contain numbers. The result is a measure of how spread out the data is, with a larger standard deviation indicating greater variability.

Learn More

You can learn more about the STDEV.P Google Sheets function on Google Support.