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Data Analysis Data Analysis Basics Getting to Know Your Data Summarizing Data: Maximum, Minimum, Range

Posted by Asa Arnold
Asa Arnold
1,266 Points

S1 vs S2 in "=MIN('2017'!S2:S26411)"

Hi all, When I first followed the directions, my numbers in the summary sheet displayed in decimals rather than minutes. After a bit I noticed that my formula said "S1" where the presenter's said "S2" in the formula; changing this fixed the problem. My question is: what's the difference between "S1" and "S2" in this formula? Thanks!

1 Answer

Hambone F
Hambone F
3,581 Points
Hambone F
Hambone F
3,581 Points

It sounds like you had to remove the first column which includes the header. So before with the S1, you had both text and times included - Google Sheets must try and convert them both data types to a common format (i.e decimal) and take the min of that.

By switching it to S2, you removed the cell with the text from the data you were taking the MIN of, and then all of the data was the same type (time), so your summary can be in the more specific format - time, rather than decimal.