Companies frequently use Excel to organize statistics in order to better understand their data. The quartiles function, which divides data into four categories in a range, is one function that some people may use in their spreadsheets. Understanding quartiles can help you decide whether this calculation can provide new insight into your numerical data. In this article, we will explain what a quartile is, a simplified example, how it’s calculated, and its purpose among other basic facts you need to know. Let’s proceed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A quartile is a statistical term that refers to the division of observations into four defined intervals based on data values and how they compare to the entire set of observations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quartiles are Excel values that divide numeric values into four sections. People prefer quartiles to percentiles, such as the top 25% of highest-spending customers. The four quartiles are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, if the data ranges from one to eight, each falls into one of the following quartiles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quartiles divides the data into quarters, so that 25% of the measurements are less than the lower quartile, 50% are less than the median, and 75% are less than the upper quartiles, just as the median divides the data in half so that 50% of the measurements are below the median and 50% are above it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The data set is divided into four ranges, each containing 25% of the data points, using three quartile values: lower, median, and upper. The lower quartile, or first quartile, is denoted as Q1 and is the middle number between the dataset’s smallest and median values. The median is also in the second quartile, Q2. The upper or third quartile, denoted as Q3, is the central point of the distribution that lies between the median and the highest number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can now map out the four groups formed by the quartiles. The first set of values includes the smallest number up to Q1; the second set includes Q1 to the median; the third set includes the median to Q3; and the fourth category includes Q3 to the highest data point in the entire set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quartiles are surprisingly useful and can serve for a purpose in a variety of contexts. One good purpose of quartiles is that they can help you understand your dataset\u2019s central tendency and variability and even help you find outliers. Graphing them with a boxplot can help you understand the distribution of your data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q2 is the median, and it divides the dataset in half. For skewed distributions, it is a useful measure of central tendency. The interquartile range (IQR) is a variability measure. The interval between the first and third quartiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IQR = Q3 – Q1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Larger IQRs indicate a wider range of values. Regardless of the shape of the distribution, half of the observations fall within the interquartile range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The median and interquartile range are more robust measures than the more familiar mean and standard deviation. Outliers have little effect on either statistic because they are not dependent on every value. Furthermore, the interquartile range is ideal for skewed distributions such as the median.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another good purpose of quartiles is that they can also help you find outliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When looking for quartiles in Excel, you have several options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can obtain your quartiles by ordering numbers in a data range from lowest to highest. In a spreadsheet, you can sort these by column. For instance, your numbers could be:<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to Find Quartiles in Excel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
#1. Sort your numbers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n