where H5 contains the calculated standard deviation of B5:F5. The result is formatted with the percentage number format. In this contrived example, standard deviation is calculated in column H with the STDEV.P function: Notice that the standard deviation is the same for all data series (1.414214) even though the means vary substantially. To calculate the coefficient of variation (CV), the formula in I5 is: This formula picks divides the standard deviation in H5 by the mean of B5:F5, calculated with the AVERAGE function. The result is a decimal value, formatted with the percentage number format. The calculated CV values show variability with respect mean more clearly. In the first data series, the CV is nearly 50%. In the last data series, the CV is only .12%.
Dave Bruns
Hi - I’m Dave Bruns, and I run Exceljet with my wife, Lisa. Our goal is to help you work faster in Excel. We create short videos, and clear examples of formulas, functions, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and charts.
