Microsoft® Excel® 2010 Formulas & Functions Inside Out

Using Statistical Functions

Statistics is the science of using methods to handle quantitative information (data). However, most people associate the word statistics with extensive tables and graphics illustrating (or sometimes concealing) diverse facts, for example, about demographic groups, economic activities, diseases, or environmental impacts.

But that is only part of the field of statistics, sometimes called descriptive statistics. Statistics are used to illustrate extensive data as well as to summarize large quantities of information with a few simple measures, such as average and variance.

Data is collected for many purposes. Often the data ...