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#Statistical

SKEW.P

Excel Functions

Get skewness of a distribution based on population

Syntax

EXCEL 
=SKEW.P(number1, [number2], ...)

Arguments

Parameter Description
number1 A range or reference that contains numeric values.
number2 [optional] A range or reference that contains numeric values.

Return Value

A positive or negative value

Details

The SKEW.P function returns the "skewness" of a distribution. SKEW.P measures the symmetry of a distribution. A positive skew result indicates a distribution that tails off to the right. A negative skew result indicates a distribution that tails off to the left. In a perfectly symmetrical distribution, the skew is zero. In the example shown, there are 11 numeric values in two groups, A and B. The count of values in each group are the inverse of each other. There are four 1's in group A, four 5's in group B, etc. The formula in cell F12 returns a positive skew: The formula in J12 returns a negative skew: Excel also contains the SKEW function, which measures sample skewness. The difference in calculation is related to an adjustment (n-1) made when data represents a sample versus the entire p

Examples

Example

In the example shown, there are 11 numeric values in two groups, A and B. The count of values in each group are the inverse of each other. There are f

EXCEL 
=SKEW.P(B5:B15) // returns 0.7658
Example

The formula in J12 returns a negative skew:

EXCEL 
=SKEW.P(C5:C15) // returns -0.7658

See Also

SKEW