CORREL

Microsoft Office Excel 2003

See Also

Returns the correlation coefficient of the array1 and array2 cell ranges. Use the correlation coefficient to determine the relationship between two properties. For example, you can examine the relationship between a location's average temperature and the use of air conditioners.

Syntax

CORREL(array1,array2)

Array1    is a cell range of values.

Array2    is a second cell range of values.

Remarks

  • If an array or reference argument contains text, logical values, or empty cells, those values are ignored; however, cells with the value zero are included.
  • If array1 and array2 have a different number of data points, CORREL returns the #N/A error value.
  • If either array1 or array2 is empty, or if s (the standard deviation) of their values equals zero, CORREL returns the #DIV/0! error value.
  • The equation for the correlation coefficient is:

    Equation

    where x and y are the sample means AVERAGE(array1) and AVERAGE(array2).

Example

The example may be easier to understand if you copy it to a blank worksheet.

ShowHow?

  1. Create a blank workbook or worksheet.
  2. Select the example in the Help topic. Do not select the row or column headers.

    Selecting an example from Help

    Selecting an example from Help

  3. Press CTRL+C.
  4. In the worksheet, select cell A1, and press CTRL+V.
  5. To switch between viewing the results and viewing the formulas that return the results, press CTRL+` (grave accent), or on the Tools menu, point to Formula Auditing, and then click Formula Auditing Mode.
 
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A B
Data1 Data2
3 9
2 7
4 12
5 15
6 17
Formula Description (Result)
=CORREL(A2:A6,B2:B6) Correlation coefficient of the two data sets above (0.997054)