What should the last column of the worksheet for the STDEV or STDEVP Functions contain?

The last column of the worksheet for the STDEV or STDEVP functions should contain quantity or money values because these functions are specifically designed to calculate the standard deviation of a set of numerical data. The standard deviation is a statistical measure that indicates the dispersion or variability of a dataset, which is fundamental for understanding the spread of quantities or financial figures.

Using quantity or monetary values in this column allows the STDEV and STDEVP functions to perform calculations based on the mathematical properties of these numbers. These functions require distinct numerical entries to compute accurate standard deviation results, which reflect how spread out the values are from the mean. This is crucial for data analysis, forecasting, and risk management in various applications, particularly within financial or operational contexts.

Including non-numerical values, such as dates, group identifiers, or statistical error measures, would not provide the necessary data for these functions to operate effectively and would lead to incorrect or meaningless results. Thus, ensuring that the last column contains only relevant numeric data is essential for accurate statistical analysis.