STDEVPA Function (OpenOffice Calc)

• Introduced: First release not established; documented by OpenOffice.org 3.3.
• Supported in: Apache OpenOffice 4.1.16; this identifies a verified release, not a final supported version.
• Scope: Desktop Calc, English function names and semicolon-separated formulas.
• Checked: October 14, 2026. Eight reference formulas and the listed diagnostics were recalculated from generated native ODF in 4.1.16 on Linux x86-64, Build 9816. Source and independent reference calculations were also checked.

STDEVPA returns the square root of population variance with A-function coercion. It divides the centered sum of squares by n before taking the square root. The result is in the original data unit and is zero for a population consisting of one included value. Release entry.

=STDEVPA(Value1 [; Value2; ...])

Supply numeric values, logical values, text, cell references or ranges. TRUE contributes 1 and FALSE contributes 0. Text contributes 0, including the directly supplied numeric-looking string “7”; it is not converted to seven. A genuinely empty referenced cell is ignored. A cell holding text and a cell with no content are therefore different inputs.

Enter these values at the exact addresses before using the range examples. F7 and F8 must be text; enter an apostrophe before 7 to force F8 to text. Enter TRUE() and FALSE() as logical formulas or use logical cell values. Leave the specified cells genuinely empty.

F2:F8 therefore contributes the seven numbers 1, 3, 5, 1, 0, 0, 0. G2:G5 contributes only 2, 4, 6; its final blank is not an extra observation.

The native column records the saved 4.1.16 results. The independent values use high-precision mathematics; displayed decimals are rounded to twelve places. The data setup above is required for range formulas.

For the full population 2, 4 and 6, the population variance is 8/3 and the standard deviation is √(8/3)≈1.632993161855. =STDEVPA(G2:G5) reproduces that value while ignoring the blank G5. Choose this denominator because the data represent the population you want to describe, not merely because the worksheet is large.

For logical indicators, the population standard deviation is √(p(1−p)). The native range H2:H5 contains two TRUE values and one FALSE, so it gives √2/3≈0.471404520791. An empty flag is excluded; a text label is a zero observation and changes the proportion.

The mixed F2:F8 calculation uses population variance 152/49, producing standard deviation √152/7≈1.761261143705. This provides a hand check on the seven included observations. The sample standard deviation of that same interpreted dataset is larger by √(7/6).

For n>1, population standard deviation equals sample standard deviation times √((n−1)/n). This relationship requires exactly the same included observations on both sides. It is not valid if one formula ignores text while the other includes it.

A 50/50 zero-one population has standard deviation 0.5. The TRUE/FALSE diagnostic confirms that case. The result summarizes dispersion of encoded indicators; it does not itself supply an uncertainty interval for an estimated proportion.

A single numeric value or text-as-zero value returns 0. A genuinely empty reference supplies no population and yields #DIV/0!, as does the empty argument list. The quoted numeric string in =STDEVPA("7";2) becomes zero, so the result is 1. Keep input typing and missing-value policy explicit before comparing spreadsheet products.

These additional formulas were recalculated from the same generated ODF input. H5 is a deliberately empty cell where referenced. Error displays are retained as errors, even when an ODS numeric attribute stores zero.

stdevp, stdev, varp, AVERAGEA.

• Function-specific release entry
• Argument/parser helper
• A-function text-as-zero dispatch

The generated ODF input produced the informational load warning “Not all attributes could be read.” After it was acknowledged, the sheet was hard-recalculated and saved separately. Every formula identity, typed input, input label and tested result was reconciled. True empty cells were distinguished from text and logical values. This does not certify every style attribute. The separately prepared XLSX input was not executed. A deliberately stale SUM cache changed from 999999 to 3, and an uncached SUM returned 7 after hard recalculation. Native evidence covers the eight reference formulas and listed diagnostics only. Other explanatory compositions are independent mathematical checks; other releases, locales and extreme-value behavior were not established by this run.