Simple sample
| A | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Value |
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 6 |
Formula: C2: =STDEV.S(A2:A4)
Result: 2
The sample standard deviation divides squared deviations by n-1.
Google Sheets function
STDEV.S in Google Sheets
STDEV.S with worked examples you can test in the live grid. The argument details are in the Excel guide.
In Google Sheets
The arguments and common errors are covered in the STDEV.S Excel guide; check the function help in Google Sheets for its own argument list.
Worked examples in Google Sheets
No variation
| A | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Value |
| 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 5 |
| 4 | 5 |
Formula: C2: =STDEV.S(A2:A4)
Result: 0
Identical observations have zero spread.
Wider sample
| A | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Value |
| 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 5 |
| 5 | 7 |
Formula: C2: =ROUND(STDEV.S(A2:A5),4)
Result: 2.582
The unrounded value is 2.58198889…; four decimals show 2.582.
Try it
A tiny spreadsheet with example data. Edit the formula or any number and see the result.
Formula in F2: =STDEV.S(C2:C7)
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Region | Product | Units | Price | Result | |
| 2 | East | Pen | 120 | 2.5 | 37.7712412646 | |
| 3 | West | Pen | 80 | 2.5 | ||
| 4 | East | Book | 45 | 12 | ||
| 5 | North | Book | 60 | 12 | ||
| 6 | West | Lamp | 30 | 25 | ||
| 7 | East | Lamp | 15 | 25 |
Result in F2: 37.7712412646
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