Functions Within Functions

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated September 21, 2018)

1

One important feature of Excel is the fact that you can use functions as arguments to other functions. For instance, consider the following formula, which calculates the confidence interval for a population mean:

=CONFIDENCE(0.05,STDEVP(B9:B18),10)

In this instance, there are two functions used—CONFIDENCE and STDEVP—and they are said to be nested. This means only that the latter function is used as an argument for the former. When this formula is calculated, Excel calculates the result of the STDEVP function, and then uses the result in the calculation of the CONFIDENCE function.

How you use functions within your formulas, and how they are nested, is entirely up to you.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (1954) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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What is one less than 3?

2013-12-12 15:54:30

Jeff Stille

Is there a way to calulate a Confidence Interval using a Excel 2010 Pivot Table?

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