How about summing your "Countif" examples, which probably answers the
original OP question:

=SUM(COUNTIF(A1:A8,{"a","b"}))

--
Regards,

RD

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"KL" wrote in message
...
sorry - misprint. the first formula should read:

=COUNTIF(A1:A8,"a")+COUNTIF(A1:A8,"b")

KL


"KL" wrote in message
...
Hi John,

For your example (although I think you meant OR not AND) you may do
something like this:

=COUNTIF(A1:A8,"=a")+COUNTIF(A1:A8,"="b")

or

=SUMPRODUCT(--(A1:A8={"a","b"}))

For more complex multiple conditions use SUMPRODUCT(), e.g.

=SUMPRODUCT((A1:A80)*(A1:A8<6)*(A1:A8<100))

Regards,
KL


"johnT" wrote in message
...
can countif criteria be based on 2 or more sets of data??
such as: =COUNTIF(A1:A8,"=AND(a,b)")

thanks......