Statistical Functions
Beginner
COUNT Function (Statistical)
The denominator, before you quote any statistic at all.
Task:
You are about to report an average satisfaction score. First you need to know how many people actually gave you a number. Put that count in B7.
Learning Objectives:
- Count numeric entries with COUNT
- Establish a denominator before reporting a statistic
- Understand that COUNT ignores text
Hints
Solve without hints for +5 XP
The data in this exercise
This is the grid you start with. Cell references in the task — B6, C2 — point at the row numbers and column letters below.
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Respondent | Score out of 10 |
| 2 | R-01 | 8 |
| 3 | R-02 | No answer |
| 4 | R-03 | 6 |
| 5 | R-04 | 9 |
| 6 | R-05 | |
| 7 | Usable scores |
What this exercise teaches (contains the answer)
Five people were surveyed and three of them gave a score. Reporting "average satisfaction 7.7" without mentioning that it rests on three responses is the kind of number that survives exactly until somebody asks. COUNT finds the denominator, and it ignores text on purpose so that a written-in "No answer" cannot quietly inflate it.