Simple Standard Deviation

[Manfred]

I've never used Excel's Standard Deviation function before and want to be
sure I'm using it correctly. Say I want to find out the standard deviation
of a value in cell C1 relative to the value in B1.

Do I place the formula as follows: =STDEV(B1:C1)?

Also, does the formula note standard deviations above and below with a + or
a - sign, respectively?

Great thanks for any assistance.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Have you checked Help?

You usage is incorrect - you can't evaluate a standard deviation of one
item relative to another.

Since the standard deviation is the square root of a real term that's
squared, the standard deviation *can't* be negative. Ever.

 

[firefytr]

hello,

i agree. you may want to also check out the TREND function, and th
AVERAGE function. these may assist you also, as it's still a littl
unclear as to what you want to achieve.

HT