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To calculate a five number summary in Google Sheets, first enter the data into the spreadsheet, then highlight the cells with the data. Next, click Insert from the menu bar, and then select Chart. In the Charts window that opens, select the Statistic tab from the left column, then check the box next to “Five Number Summary”. Click Insert, and the five number summary will be displayed in the spreadsheet.
A five number summary is a way to summarize a dataset using the following five values:
- The minimum
- The first quartile
- The median
- The third quartile
- The maximum
The five number summary is useful because it provides a concise summary of the distribution of the data in the following ways:
- It tells us where the middle value is located, using the median.
- It tells us how spread out the data is, using the first and third quartiles.
- It tells us the range of the data, using the minimum and the maximum.
By simply knowing these five values, we can know a great deal about a dataset.
How to Find a Five Number Summary in Google Sheets
We can use the following steps to find the five number summary of a dataset in Google Sheets:
Step 1: Enter all data values in one column.
First, enter the values of the dataset in one column:
Step 2: Calculate the five number summary.
The five values of the five number summary are shown in column D and the formulas used to find these values are shown in column E:
Thus, the five number summary of this dataset is:
- Minimum: 4
- 1st Quartile: 7.5
- Median: 17
- 3rd Quartile: 22
- Maximum: 28
From these five numbers we can get a good idea of where the center of the dataset is located, how spread out the values are, and the range of values.
Technical Note:
There are two quartile functions in Google Sheets:
QUARTILE.INC() – Calculates percentiles using “greater than or equal to” in an “inclusive” manner.
QUARTILE.EXC() – Calculates percentiles using “greater than” in an “exclusive” manner.
The default function QUARTILE() uses the QUARTILE.INC() method.
Visualize a Five Number Summary
One of the easiest ways to visualize a five number summary is by creating a boxplot, which uses a box with a line in the middle along with “whiskers” that extend on each end to represent the minimum and maximum values.
Feel free to use the arabpsychology Boxplot Generator to automatically create a boxplot for a given dataset.
You can also follow this tutorial to find out how to create a boxplot in Google Sheets for a given dataset.