Missing values: what it means and how to read it
In the report: missing — The number of empty answers and of cells that do not match the column type (text in a number column), inside the selected rows.
How to read it
How many respondents skipped the question or gave an unusable answer. Compare it with n: a large share of missing answers can bias the results.
In plain words
A teacher sent a survey to 40 students and asked for missing. It came out 10. That means ten answers were left empty or had words in a column meant for numbers. So only 30 students gave an answer she can use. Now she can say that a quarter of the class is not in her results. Since the ones who skipped may think differently from the ones who answered, she should be careful with what the other 30 answers seem to say about the whole class.
Example
The cell with missing is selected in each report; point at a label to see its note.
- — the sample data (50 rows) the examples use
- — Include count of missing / invalid values
=STATS_DESCRIPTIVE(Data!A1:T51, "n,missing,mean", "x1,x2")
Where you see it
STATS_DESCRIPTIVE— Column-wise descriptive statistics with flexible metric selection and optional column filtering.
Related values
- Variance — The mean squared deviation from the mean: sample formula (n − 1); with pop = TRUE in Settings, population (n).
- Standard deviation — The square root of the variance: sample formula (n − 1); with pop = TRUE in Settings, population (n).
- Coefficient of variation — std / mean; empty when the mean is 0.
- Relative dispersion — std / median; empty when the median is 0.
- Skewness — The asymmetry of the distribution, with the sample correction as in Excel and SPSS; empty for fewer than 3 values or a column of equal values.
Get it in your sheet
One formula in a cell gives the whole report, Missing values included. ALS Stats is a free add-on for Google Sheets™.
Install ALS Stats from Google Workspace Marketplace (opens in a new tab)