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> Doesn't the PERCENTILE function do just that?
Yes and no. PERCENTILE() gives the correct answer
(almost), whereas the OP wanted the wrong answer :-).
"Rob" <fake@address.com> wrote:
> If there are 87 observations ranked from smallest to largest,
> the 95th percentile observation would be at position 83.15[.]
> In cases like this the value of the 95th percentile would be
> estimated by linear interpolation of the results at position 83
> and position 84 as follow:
> Value at position 83 + 0.15(Value at position 84 - Value at position 83)
How do you figure that? 87*95% = 82.65. And indeed,
PERCENTILE(87,95%) returns 82.7 if the observed values
are 1,...,87.
I only quibble with the way that PERCENTILE() rounds
results. For example, if the observed values in A1:A87
are 100,200,...,8700, PERCENTILE(A1:A87,95%) returns
8270 instead of 8265 (or arguably 8266 or ....).