Scribd
Upload
131 views2 pages

Understanding the RANK Function in Excel

The RANK function returns the rank of a number in a list of numbers. It takes in three arguments: the number to find the rank of, the list of numbers to reference, and whether to rank in ascending or descending order. It gives duplicate numbers the same rank, which can affect subsequent ranks. A correction factor is provided to adjust ranks to account for ties by averaging duplicate ranks. An example demonstrates finding the ranks of numbers in a list.

Uploaded by

Agung Try Prasetya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
131 views2 pages

Understanding the RANK Function in Excel

The RANK function returns the rank of a number in a list of numbers. It takes in three arguments: the number to find the rank of, the list of numbers to reference, and whether to rank in ascending or descending order. It gives duplicate numbers the same rank, which can affect subsequent ranks. A correction factor is provided to adjust ranks to account for ties by averaging duplicate ranks. An example demonstrates finding the ranks of numbers in a list.

Uploaded by

Agung Try Prasetya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

RANK function

Returns the rank of a number in a list of numbers. The rank of a number is its size relative to other values in a list. (If you

were to sort the list, the rank of the number would be its position.)

Syntax

RANK(number,ref,order)

Number is the number whose rank you want to find.

Ref is an array of, or a reference to, a list of numbers. Nonnumeric values in ref are ignored.

Order is a number specifying how to rank number.

If order is 0 (zero) or omitted, Microsoft Excel ranks number as if ref were a list sorted in descending order.

If order is any nonzero value, Microsoft Excel ranks number as if ref were a list sorted in ascending order.

Remarks

RANK gives duplicate numbers the same rank. However, the presence of duplicate numbers affects the ranks

of subsequent numbers. For example, in a list of integers sorted in ascending order, if the number 10 appears

twice and has a rank of 5, then 11 would have a rank of 7 (no number would have a rank of 6).

For some purposes one might want to use a definition of rank that takes ties into account. In the previous

example, one would want a revised rank of 5.5 for the number 10. This can be done by adding the following

correction factor to the value returned by RANK. This correction factor is appropriate both for the case where

rank is computed in descending order (order = 0 or omitted) or ascending order (order = nonzero value).

Correction factor for tied ranks=[COUNT(ref) + 1 – RANK(number, ref, 0) – RANK(number, ref, 1)]/2.

In the following example, RANK(A2,A1:A5,1) equals 3. The correction factor is (5 + 1 – 2 – 3)/2 = 0.5 and the

revised rank that takes ties into account is 3 + 0.5 = 3.5. If number occurs only once in ref, the correction factor

will be 0, since RANK would not have to be adjusted for a tie.

Example

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

How to copy an example

1. Create a blank workbook or worksheet.

2. Select the example in the Help topic.


NOTE Do not select the row or column headers.

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 Formulas tab, in the Formula Auditing group, click the Show Formulas button.

1 Data

2 7

3 3.5

4 3.5

5 1

6 2

Formula Description (Result)

=RANK(A3,A2:A6,1) Rank of 3.5 in the list above (3)

=RANK(A2,A2:A6,1) Rank of 7 in the list above (5)

You might also like