Sum: what it means and how to read it

In the report: sum — The sum of the values; empty for a column without a single number (the sign . in a STATS_COMPUTE row where no item is answered), not 0.

How to read it

The total — useful for amounts that add up: total hours, total points.

In plain words

A coach wanted to know how many hours his team trained in a month. He gave the add-on the column with the hours of 20 players and asked for sum. It gave 340. Now he can tell the club that the team trained 340 hours in total, and compare that with last month, when it was 300. If the column has no numbers at all, the cell stays empty and does not show 0, so he can tell a missing column from a real zero.

How it is computed

Σ x

Where you see it

STATS_DESCRIPTIVE — Column-wise descriptive statistics with flexible metric selection and optional column filtering.

Mean — The arithmetic mean: the sum divided by n.
Median — The middle of the sorted values; with an even n, the mean of the two middle ones.
Minimum — The smallest value.
Maximum — The largest value.
Range — max − min.

Get it in your sheet

One formula in a cell gives the whole report, Sum included. ALS Stats is a free add-on for Google Sheets™.

Install ALS Stats from Google Workspace Marketplace (opens in a new tab)