STANDARDIZE Function (OpenOffice Calc)

• Introduced: First release not established. The OpenOffice.org 3.3 appendix documents STANDARDIZE; that is historical presence evidence.
• Supported in: Apache OpenOffice 4.1.16; no final supported release established.
• Scope: Desktop Calc. Formulas below use English names and semicolon argument separators, with complete numeric example ranges.
• Checked: October 14, 2026. The eight reference formulas were recalculated in Apache OpenOffice 4.1.16 on Linux x86-64, Build 9816, using XLSX import and hard recalculation. Source and independent arithmetic were also checked.

STANDARDIZE computes (Number−Mean)/StandardDeviation. The result is a signed, dimensionless z-score. It describes distance from the chosen mean in units of the chosen standard deviation; the calculation alone does not establish a normal distribution. Function entry.

=STANDARDIZE(Number; Mean; StandardDeviation)

All three arguments are required. StandardDeviation must be positive. The source distinguishes a negative SD, an invalid argument, from a zero SD, division by zero. Number and Mean may be negative. Do not substitute variance for SD: variance is in squared units. The release calculation logic is the authority for these contracts.

The direct-argument examples do not require cell ranges. The displayed reference sample used below is X=1,2,3,4,5.

These eight formulas were recalculated in Apache OpenOffice 4.1.16 on Linux x86-64, Build 9816, after XLSX import. Saved ODS values match independent arithmetic; results below are rounded to twelve decimal places.

For a score 82 compared with mean 70 and SD 8, =STANDARDIZE(82;70;8) returns 1.5. It lies 1.5 chosen standard deviations above the mean. A score 58 with the same reference parameters returns −1.5.

Keep Number, Mean and SD in separately labeled cells, such as A2, B2 and C2, then use =STANDARDIZE(A2;B2;C2). Preserve the original measurement beside the standardized value. The sign matters; ABS would discard whether it is above or below the reference mean.

The reverse calculation is Number=Mean+z×SD. Thus 70+1.5×8 recovers 82. If both a measurement and its mean are converted from hours to minutes and SD is also multiplied by 60, the z-score stays unchanged. A unit conversion applied to only one argument makes the result meaningless.

When parameters come from the same data, deliberately choose sample SD or population SD. For X=1,2,3,4,5, mean 3 and sample SD SQRT(2.5), the standardized value of 5 is approximately 1.264911064067. Using population SD SQRT(2) gives approximately 1.414213562373 instead. STANDARDIZE cannot decide which denominator your purpose requires.

A large absolute z-score is not by itself an instruction to delete an observation. Check measurement errors and the reference population first. Nor is a z-score a tail probability: a probability calculation needs an explicit distributional model in addition to the arithmetic standardization.

Keep original values and units alongside the derived statistic. Rounding the source observations or intermediate mean can change a spread or standardized score; round for presentation after calculation.

Selected boundary cases were checked in that same native session. Error displays are retained as errors, not interpreted as numeric zero.

• Function-specific 4.1.16 entry
• Shared evaluator and argument handling

The saved ODS retained the tested formulas and numeric inputs. A deliberately stale SUM result and an uncached SUM formula confirmed recalculation. Native evidence covers the eight reference formulas and listed boundary cases in the stated 4.1.16 build; other explanatory calculations are independent references. Other releases, locales and import formats were not tested.