Determine first 3 out of 5 cells that pass acceptance criteria

[andykputtmann]

I have 5 cells that contain numbers that will either pass or fail depending on acceptance criteria. I need to calculate the standard deviation of the first 3 of those cells that pass the criteria. I know that I could use a bunch of IF statements and capture all 10 possible combinations of the 5 cells but I was hoping there was a little more elegant way of solving it.

[AliGW]

Will you please attach a sample Excel workbook?

1. Make sure that your sample data are REPRESENTATIVE of your real data. The use of unrepresentative data is very frustrating and can lead to long delays in reaching a solution.

2. Make sure that your desired results are also shown (mock up the results manually).

3. Make sure that all confidential data is removed or replaced with dummy data first (e.g. names, addresses, E-mails, etc.).

4. Try to avoid using merged cells as they cause lots of problems.

Unfortunately the attachment icon doesn't work at the moment, so to attach an Excel file you have to do the following: just before posting, scroll down to Go Advanced and then scroll down to Manage Attachments. Now follow the instructions at the top of that screen.

Please pay particular attention to point 2 (above): without an idea of your intended outcomes, it is often very difficult to offer appropriate advice.

[andykputtmann]

Attached is a representative example of the data I am using. Please let me know if more clarification is needed.

[63falcondude]

Try this:

=STDEV.P(IF((B4:F4="PASS")*(B2:F2<=AGGREGATE(15,6,B2:F2/(B4:F4="PASS"),3)),B2:F2)) Ctrl Shift Enter

[andykputtmann]

That is very close. If they all pass it uses cells 1, 2, 5 instead of 1, 2, 3. If cell 3 fails it should use 1, 2, 4 but it uses 1, 2, 5 instead. If cell 2 fails it uses 1, 4, 5 instead of 1, 3, 4. So it seems to be defaulting to the the last cells if any of the first cells fail. I did not check all of the possible combinations.

[63falcondude]

I see. The formula takes the standard deviation of the smallest 3 (not the first 3) numbers that are ≤ 169.

Working on a fix.

[63falcondude]

Here's how I would do it:

B5 =COUNTIF($B4:B4,"PASS") Drag this formula through F5.

Then, you can use this simple array formula in another cell:
=STDEV.P(IF((B4:F4="PASS")*(B5:F5<=3),B2:F2)) Ctrl Shift Enter

[andykputtmann]

that works beautifully. THANK YOU!

[63falcondude]

You're welcome, happy to help.

Thanks for the rep!