The arithmetic means, mode and median are the base of any statistical analysis of data. We have already discussed how we can calculate MODE and MEDIAN in Excel. In this tutorial, we will learn how to calculate mean in excel.
Mean is nothing but the average of data. A given set of data is added and divided by total numbers. For example, mean of 2,4 and 8 will be (2+4+8)/3, which is 7.
In excel, we use the AVERAGE function to calculate the mean of data. The AVERAGE function does the same thing as mean. There is no MEAN function in excel since AVERAGE is there.
Generic Mean Formula in Excel
May 16, 2015 This Excel tutorial explains how to use mean, mode and median to measure Central Tendency. Excel Central Tendency. Central Tendency is a statistics term to describe the central point of probability distribution. Central Tendency can be measured by mean, mode and median. Excel Formula Training. Formulas are the key to getting things done in Excel. In this accelerated training, you'll learn how to use formulas to manipulate text, work with dates and times, lookup values with VLOOKUP and INDEX & MATCH, count and sum with criteria, dynamically rank values, and create dynamic ranges. Guide for calculating the Mean, Median or Mode. Open your data file in Excel. Click on a blank cell where you will paste a function to calculate the mean, median or mode. Click on the Function Wizard,. Click on Average to highlight it, then click on OK. When the total number of supplied numbers is even, the median is calculated as the average of the two numbers in the middle. Cells that contain text, logical values, or no value are ignored. Numbers can be supplied as numbers, ranges, named ranges, or cell references that contain numeric values.
Number1,number2,... : These are the numbers of which you want to calculate mean in excel. This can be numbers, cell references and ranges.
The all below average formulas are valid.
Excel Mean Examples
Here I have some data about weights of my colleagues in my company. Now, I want to calculate the mean in excel of this data.
Write this mean formula using AVERAGE function in excel:
This will return the mean or say average of this data, which 60 kgs.
Handling Blank Cells while Calculating MEAN in Excel
Above mean formula is equivalent to this formula:
It means if you have any blank cell or cell that contain non numeric value, it will be ignored and denominator will reduce. See the below image.
See, we have, only 4 employees are taken in consideration. Which actually logical here, because no one can
weigh 0 Kgs on Earth.
But what if we are talking about productivity, that can be 0. In that case this analysis will be wrong.
To keep every record in consideration while calculating, either fill each non-numeric value with 0, or use below formula.
How it Works
Here first SUM function adds all the non numeric value in the given range. Then ROWS returns the number of rows in the range. Eventually we divide the sum by number of rows to calculate the mean in excel.
Calculate MEAN using SUM and COUNTA Function.
Almost every data has some tags with it. For example, every weight and productivity is associated with an employee. So to calculate true mean, we can sum the number using SUM function and count the employees using COUNTA function. And then divide the SUM by COUNT of employee to calculate mean of productivity.
Formula to Calculate Mean of Data using SUM and COUNTA
So, yeah guys, these are the ways to calculate error free mean of a dataset. Feel free to ask question about any statical function in excel. And share you tricks to others and make others work easy.
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