How to Calculate Mean, Median, Mode and Standard Deviation in Excel

Calculating the Mean

1. Enter scores into a column in a spreadsheet. All scores must be entered, including any zeroes. A blank space will not be read as zero, but will instead be skipped over by Excel.

Example: A 100 point test was given to an 8th grade Science class of 20 students. The scores are shown above.

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

2. Once all of the scores have been entered, place the cursor in the cell where you would like the mean (average) to appear and click the mouse button.

3. Now look at the top of the Excel screen. Underneath the title of the document, there should be a tab that is labeled Formulas. Click on this tab.

4. On the left side of the screen is the icon for Insert Function. The icon looks like fx. Click on this icon to open the tool. If you are having trouble finding this icon, you can open the tool by clicking the shift key and the f3 key at the same time.
Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

5. Once the tool has been opened, a new box will pop up on the screen. This box gives us the option to search for the function (equation) that we are looking for, or we can look through categorized lists. To search for the equation for the mean (average), type average into the search box and click go. Using the searching method, the equation we want to use is the first option, simply titled AVERAGE. If we use the pull down menu, we want to select the category of Statistical. In this way, the AVERAGE equation is the second option from the top of the list. Once AVERAGE is highlighted, click on the OK button in the lower right.

6. A new box will appear that is titled Function Arguments. This box allows you to set what numbers from the spreadsheet you would like to average. In the box labeled Number1, you should enter the range of the cells that you would like to average. For example, if your data were in column A, and in rows 1 through 20, you would enter A1:A20. This tells Excel to average all of the numbers in the cells from cell A1 to cell A20. If you dont want to type the range, you can click and drag your cursor across the cells that you want to average. For example, you would start by clicking on cell A1, than you would hold down the mouse click as you were moving the cursor down to cell A20. If done correctly, the Function Arguments box should look like this:

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

The Function Arguments box shows us everything that we have done to this point. It shows us what equation we are using, as well as what cells we are drawing the data from. It even shows us what our average will be before we click OK. 7. Once you have clicked the OK button, your average should appear in the cell that you had selected earlier.

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

Calculating the Median

1. Enter scores into a column in a spreadsheet. All scores must be entered, including any zeroes. A blank space will not be read as zero, but will instead be skipped over by Excel.

Example: A 100 point test was given to an 8th grade Science class of 20 students. The scores are shown above.

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

2. Once all of the scores have been entered, place the cursor in the cell where you would like the median to appear and click the mouse button.

3. Now look at the top of the Excel screen. Underneath the title of the document, there should be a tab that is labeled Formulas. Click on this tab.

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

4. On the left side of the screen is the icon for Insert Function. The icon looks like fx. Click on this icon to open the tool. If you are having trouble finding this icon, you can open the tool by clicking the shift key and the f3 key at the same time. 5. Once the tool has been opened, a new box will pop up on the screen. This box gives us the option to search for the function (equation) that we are looking for, or we can look through categorized lists. To search for the equation for the median, type median into the search box and click go. Using the searching method, the equation we want to use is the first option, simply titled MEDIAN. If we use the pull down menu, we want to select the category of Statistical. In this way, the MEDIAN is around the middle of the list. Once MEDIAN is highlighted, click on the OK button in the lower right.

6. A new box will appear that is titled Function Arguments. This box allows you to set the numbers in the spreadsheet for which the median is to be found. In the box labeled Number1, you should enter the range of the cells for which the median is to be found. For example, if your data were in column A, and in rows 1 through 20, you would enter A1:A20. This tells Excel to find the median of all of the numbers in the cells from cell A1 to cell A20. If you dont want to type the range, you can click and drag your cursor across the cells for which the median is to be found. For example, you would start by clicking on cell A1, than you would hold down the mouse click as you were moving the cursor down to cell A20. If done correctly, the Function Arguments box should look like this:
Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

7. Once you have clicked the OK button, the median should appear in the cell that you had selected earlier.

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

Calculating the Mode

1. Enter scores into a column in a spreadsheet. All scores must be entered, including any zeroes. A blank space will not be read as zero, but will instead be skipped over by Excel.

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

2. Once all of the scores have been entered, place the cursor in the cell where you would like the mode to appear and click the mouse button.

3. Now look at the top of the Excel screen. Underneath the title of the document, there should be a tab that is labeled Formulas. Click on this tab.

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

4. On the left side of the screen is the icon for Insert Function. The icon looks like fx. Click on this icon to open the tool. If you are having trouble finding this icon, you can open the tool by clicking the shift key and the f3 key at the same time. 5. Once the tool has been opened, a new box will pop up on the screen. This box gives us the option to search for the function (equation) that we are looking for, or we can look through categorized lists. To search for the equation for the mode, type mode into the search box and click go. Using the searching method, the equation we want to use is the third option from the top, titled MODE.MULT. If we use the pull down menu, we want to select the category of Statistical. In this way, the MODE.MULT is around the middle of the list. Once MODE.MULT is highlighted, click on the OK button in the lower right.

6. A new box will appear that is titled Function Arguments. This box allows you to set the numbers in the spreadsheet for which the mode is to be found. In the box labeled Number1, you should enter the range of the cells for which the mode is to be found. For example, if your data were in column A, and in rows 1 through 20, you would enter A1:A20. This tells Excel to find the mode of all of the numbers in the cells from cell A1 to cell A20. If you dont want to type the range, you can click and drag your cursor across the cells for which the mode is to be found. For example, you would start by clicking on cell A1, than you would hold down the mouse click as you were moving the cursor down to cell A20. If done correctly, the Function Arguments box should look like this:
Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

7. Once you have clicked the OK button, the mode should appear in the cell that you had selected earlier.

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

Calculating the Standard Deviation

1. Enter scores into a column in a spreadsheet. All scores must be entered, including any zeroes. A blank space will not be read as zero, but will instead be skipped over by Excel.

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

2. Once all of the scores have been entered, place the cursor in the cell where you would like the standard deviation to appear and click the mouse button.

3. Now look at the top of the Excel screen. Underneath the title of the document, there should be a tab that is labeled Formulas. Click on this tab.

4. On the left side of the screen is the icon for Insert Function. The icon looks like fx. Click on this icon to open the tool. If you are having trouble finding this icon, you can open the tool by clicking the shift key and the f3 key at the same time.

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

5. Once the tool has been opened, a new box will pop up on the screen. This box gives us the option to search for the function (equation) that we are looking for, or we can look through categorized lists. To search for the equation for the standard deviation, type standard deviation into the search box and hit Go. The equation for standard deviation will be called STDEV and it will be the third from the top. If we use the pull down menu, we want to select the category of Statistical. This menu is arranged alphabetically, so our equation will be among the S section. The equation will now be called STDEV.S. Click on this equation to highlight it, and then click OK.

6. A new box will appear that is titled Function Arguments. This box allows you to set what numbers from the spreadsheet you would like to find the standard deviation for. In the box labeled Number1, you should enter the range of the cells that you would like to use. For example, if your data were in column A, and in rows 1 through 20, you would enter A1:A20. This tells Excel to use all of the numbers in the cells from cell A1 to cell A20. If you dont want to type the range, you can click and drag your cursor across the cells that you want to use. For example, you would start by clicking on cell A1, than you would hold down the mouse click as you were moving the cursor down to cell A20. If done correctly, the Function Arguments box should look like this:

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm

7. Once you have clicked the OK button, the standard deviation should appear in the cell that you selected earlier.

Based on http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/research/Normal/stdexcel.htm