One of the fundamental operations of statistical analysis is calculating the standard deviation of a data set. In this article, we're going to show you how to calculate standard deviation in Excel using the STDEV.S and STDEV.P functions.

Syntax

=STDEV.S( array of numbers )

=STDEV.P( array of numbers )

Steps

1. Begin by typing in =STDEV.S(
2. Select the range that contains your data (i.e. B3:B12)
3. Close the formula and press the Enter key to finalize the formula )

How to find the standard deviation in Excel

Standard deviation is a measure that is used to quantify the amount of variation or dispersion a set of data has, relative to its mean. This value is equal to the square root of the variance. Excel has built-in functions to calculate the standard deviation easily.

• STDEV.S
• STDEV.P

If you want to use a sample population, use STDEV.S. If your data represents the entire population, then use STDEV.P instead.

Additionally, the STDEV.S and STDEV.P functions can ignore the empty cells and cells that do not contain any numbers. If you want to include empty or invalid values in calculations as zeroes, use the STDEVA.S and STDEVA.P functions. See the related article on how to calculate the mean of a data set.