COVAR (population covariance)

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COVAR (population covariance)

Note: COVAR is supplemented by the new identical function COVARIANCE.P (population covariance) and the completely new function COVARIANCE.S (sample covariance), which are available in newer versions of Microsoft Excel (2010 or later).

Syntax:

COVAR(Range1, Range2)

Description:

Returns the population covariance of two data sets.

The covariance is the average of the products of the deviations for each pair of values. It can be used to determine the extent to which two data sets vary ("co-vary").

Range1 and Range2 are cell references to the two data sets. These must contain whole numbers. Empty cells, text and logical values are ignored.

The data sets must have the same number of values, otherwise the function returns a #N/A error value.

Example:

If A1:A3 contains the values 2, 5, 3 and B1:B3 contains 2, 7, 4:

COVAR(A1:A3, B1:B3) returns 2.55556

See also:

COVARIANCE.P/COVARIANCE.S, FISHER, FISHERINV, CORREL