DEVSQ: Centered Sum of Squared Deviations in WPS Spreadsheet

=DEVSQ(number1, number2, ...)
=DEVSQ(A2:A4)

Source warning: the official lesson’s text states 1–30 arguments, while its illustrated dialog states up to 255. The maximum is unresolved. The examples here use a single numeric range, which the lesson explicitly allows, and do not depend on either disputed maximum. The number of cells within that range is distinct from the number of top-level arguments.

The lesson distinguishes direct arguments from references: directly supplied logical values and numeric text are described as included, while text, logical values and blanks inside references are described as ignored. Errors or nonconvertible text can cause an error, but the lesson does not establish every exact error token. Fully numeric controls avoid these coercion distinctions.

Enter numeric 2 in A2, 4 in A3 and 6 in A4. Then enter =DEVSQ(A2:A4). Work through the calculation independently:

1. Arithmetic mean: (2+4+6)/3 = 4.
2. Deviations: −2, 0 and 2.
3. Squared deviations: 4, 0 and 4.
4. Their sum is 8.

There is no division by 3 or by 2 inside this final sum. The result has squared units if the observations have units.

Replace the values beginning at A2 for each separate example. Use the stated range; do not leave an extra value from a previous longer example inside it.

For 0, 2, 4 and 6, the mean is 3 and the squared deviations are 9, 1, 1 and 9, totaling 20. Numeric zero is a real observation in this dataset. Three identical values have no deviation from their mean and produce a mathematical sum of zero.

Adding 10 to every value in 2, 4, 6 produces 12, 14, 16. The mean also rises by 10, leaving deviations unchanged and DEVSQ at 8. This translation property is useful for checking whether a centered-spread calculation has accidentally used the raw observations instead of deviations.

Multiplying all three original observations by 2 produces 4, 8, 12. The deviations double and their squares quadruple, so the independently calculated DEVSQ is 32. This scaling rule explains the squared units.

For the original three observations, dividing the sum 8 by n−1=2 gives sample variance 4; dividing by n=3 gives population variance 8/3. Taking a square root would be another operation. These are mathematical relationships, not claims that DEVSQ itself chooses a variance estimator or computes its square root.

A result larger than expected may come from an outlier, since squaring gives large deviations greater weight. A raw sum-of-squares calculation for 2, 4, 6 gives 56, not DEVSQ’s 8. Check whether the formula’s intended quantity is centered spread before replacing it with SUMSQ.

Keep headings, notes and unrelated rows outside the numeric range. The lesson’s reference-handling rules do not make every imported representation of a number equivalent to a numeric cell. A blank, text and a true zero can affect the included data differently.

The lesson does not settle all-empty or singleton range outcomes, precision at extreme magnitudes, or the contradictory maximum argument count. No exact error or successful result is invented for those cases. The small independent controls validate the arithmetic definition rather than WPS numerical stability or execution.

The official WPS lesson is dated 2019-06-05 and explicitly labels its applicability WPS Office for Windows Personal. It does not identify a numeric release. This establishes documentation by that date, not the function’s original introduction or its last working version. Current build limits and equivalence across WPS clients remain unverified. The available evidence does not establish retirement or formal deprecation.

Checked October 18, 2026. The examples in this guide are original, independently calculated controls based on the lesson. They have not been run in WPS or another spreadsheet application. No screenshot or execution result is claimed.

AVERAGE, SUMSQ, STDEV, SQRT.