View Single Post
  #7   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.excel.worksheet.functions
Alan
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do I pull a random sample of people from a list in excel?


I should just comment that it is theoretically possible to get two
duplicate random numbers.

However, since RAND() evaluates to 15 decimal places, I guess that
means that, even for the 50,000th line, the chances of getting a
duplicate number are only about 50,000 in 10^15 or about 5 in 10^11
(if I have that right).

That is quite a lot less than the chanes of randomly selecting two
people from a list of everyone on Earth and getting the same person
both times.

I can live with that in a practical world, and if it is an issue, you
can always put an error check in your worksheet to alert to
duplication if you really want to.

Alan.


--
The views expressed are my own, and not those of my employer or anyone
else associated with me.

My current valid email address is:



This is valid as is. It is not munged, or altered at all.

It will be valid for AT LEAST one month from the date of this post.

If you are trying to contact me after that time,
it MAY still be valid, but may also have been
deactivated due to spam. If so, and you want
to contact me by email, try searching for a
more recent post by me to find my current
email address