The summary functions are a group of functions that help you understand and analyze numerical data. These functions can be used to find the average, the maximum, the minimum, the mode, the median, and the size of a data set.
In this article, I’ll show you how to create a formula and insert the function into an Excel spreadsheet. Each function in Excel takes arguments, which are the values the function needs to calculate an output. To use a function in Excel, you first need to create a formula. A formula is simply a set of instructions that tells Excel what to do with your data. To create a formula, start by entering the name of the function followed by the arguments (in parentheses). For example, if you wanted to use the SUM() function to calculate the sum of all values in a column, you would enter: SUM( ). Once you have created your formula, you can insert it into an Excel spreadsheet by clicking on the cell where you want to place it and then selecting Insert > Function from the menu bar. Once your function is inserted into your spreadsheet, you can start using it to calculate outputs. ..
Understanding Formulas & Functions
In Excel, you can add two numbers by using the SUM function. This function takes two arguments, and the results are displayed in a table. ..
There is nothing wrong with using the =2+2 formula in Excel, but it is not necessary to do so. You could just type =2+2 into Excel and that would work also. In Excel, when you use a function like SUM, it makes more sense to use arguments. With the SUM function, Excel is expecting at least two arguments, which would be references to cells on the spreadsheet. ..
To reference a cell inside the Excel formula, you simply use the number and letter combination that corresponds to the row and column in which that cell is located. For example, if you want to reference the cell A1 in row 1 of the spreadsheet at the top left, you would use “A1” in both rows and columns.
Before we write our new formula, let’s add some data in columns A and B to work with. Go ahead and type random numbers from A1 to A10 and B1 to B10 for our data set. Now go to D1 and type in =SUM(A1,B1). You should see the result is simply the value of A1 + B1.
Secondly, you’ll notice that Excel will automatically fill in the cell with the result of your formula. In our example, it would fill in cell B2 with the sum of all the numbers in column A. If you want to change this result, you can simply type in a different value into cell B2. ..
To sum all the other rows in a column, you can use the SUM function. Just type SUM in the cell where you want to sum the values, and Excel will automatically fill in the cell reference for you. ..
This is a graphic representation of a change in the value of cell D1.
Now click and hold your mouse button down. Drag the cursor down to the last row of data and then let go at the end.
Excel is smart enough to know that the formula should change and reflect the values in the other rows rather than just showing you the same A1 + B1 all the way down. Instead, you’ll see A2+B2, A3+B3 and so on.
To sum up all the values in a range, you can use the SUM function like this: =SUM(A1:A12). This is much faster and easier to use than typing everything out individually. ..
To sum up A1 to A12, all we need to do is type =SUM(A1:A12) with a colon separating the two cell references instead of a comma. You could even type something like =SUM(A1:B12) and it will sum all values in A1 thru A12 and B1 thru B12.
This article provides an overview of Excel’s data summation functions, which can be used to calculate a variety of summary statistics. ..
Summary Functions
We’ll use the COUNT function to see how many unique words were used in the document, and the COUNTA function to see how many words were used more than once. ..
Here I have entered the COUNT function into D2 and the COUNTA function into E2, using A2:A12 range as the data set for both functions. I also changed the value in A9 to the text string hello to show the difference. COUNT only counts the cells that have numbers whereas COUNTA counts cells that contain text and numbers. Both functions do not count blank cells. If you want to count blank cells, use the COUNTBLANK function.
Next up are the AVERAGE, MEDIAN and MODE functions. The average is self-explanatory, median is the middle number in a set of numbers and mode is the most common number or numbers in a set of numbers. In newer versions of Excel, you have MODE.SNGL and MODE.MULT because there could be more than one number that is the most common number in a set of numbers. I used B2:B12 for the range in the example below.
The MIN and MAX functions will return the smallest and largest value in the set, respectively. ..
Finally, another two useful functions are LARGE and SMALL. They take two arguments: the cell range and the k-th largest value you want to return. So if you want the second largest value in the set, you would use 2 for the second argument, 3 for the third largest number, etc. SMALL works the same way, but gives you the k-th smallest number.
The AGGREGATE function lets you apply any of the other functions mentioned above, but also lets you do things like ignore hidden rows, ignore error values, etc. You probably won’t need to use it that often, but you can learn more about it here in case you do need it.
Excel has a number of summary functions that can be used to summarize data. These functions can be helpful when you need to quickly see a summary of data. ..
