XL98: PERCENTRANK() May Appear to Return Incorrect Results (191895)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition
This article was previously published under Q191895

SYMPTOMS

When you use PERCENTRANK to find the percentage rank of a number, the results may appear to be incorrect.

CAUSE

If the largest number in your list occurs more than once, the rank assigned to that number will be different than if it occurs only once. When the largest number occurs only once, the percentage rank given to it is 1. However, if the largest number occurs more than once, it will be given a percentage rank other than 1.

MORE INFORMATION

To create an example of how the PERCENTRANK function returns different percentages when a number occurs more than once in the list of numbers, type the following in a new worksheet: 
    A1: 1.00    B1: =PERCENTRANK($A$1:$A$4,A1)  (result in B is 1)
    A2: 0.75    B2: =PERCENTRANK($A$1:$A$4,A2)  (result in B is 0.666)
    A3: 0.50    B3: =PERCENTRANK($A$1:$A$4,A3)  (result in B is 0.333)
    A4: 0.25    B4: =PERCENTRANK($A$1:$A$4,A4)  (result in B is 0)
 
    A6: 1.00    B6: =PERCENTRANK($A$6:$A$13,A6)  (result in B is 0.857)
    A7: 0.75    B7: =PERCENTRANK($A$6:$A$13,A7)  (result in B is 0.571)
    A8: 0.50    B8: =PERCENTRANK($A$6:$A$13,A8)  (result in B is 0.285)
    A9: 0.25    B9: =PERCENTRANK($A$6:$A$13,A9)  (result in B is 0)
   A10: 1.00   B10: =PERCENTRANK($A$6:$A$13,A10) (result in B is 0.857)
   A11: 0.75   B11: =PERCENTRANK($A$6:$A$13,A11) (result in B is 0.571)
   A12: 0.50   B12: =PERCENTRANK($A$6:$A$13,A12) (result in B is 0.285)
   A13: 0.25   B13: =PERCENTRANK($A$6:$A$13,A13) (result in B is 0)
If you look at the percentage rank given to the value 1.00 in the first set of numbers and compare it to the percentage rank given to the value 1.00 in the second set of numbers, it may appear that the function is not working properly. However, this result is by design of the PERCENTRANK function. If the highest value occurs more than once, it must share the highest percentage rank, and, therefore, it will not be given a percentage rank of 1.00.

REFERENCES

For more information about PERCENTRANK, click Contents And Index on the Help menu (or on the Balloon Help menu if you are using a version of the Macintosh operating system earlier than 8.0), click the Index button in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text

PERCENTRANK worksheet function

and then click Show Topics. Select the "PERCENTRANK" topic, and click Go To. If you are unable to find the information you need, ask the Office Assistant.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:9/11/2002
Keywords:kbprb KB191895
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.