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From: Joe User on 6 Apr 2010 14:19
"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton(a)verizon.net> wrote:
> Joe wrote on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 09:50:00 -0700:
>> 1. You might prefer ROUND($C$2*COUNTA($A$2:$A$892), 0).
>
> You might consider using randbetween(1,891), paste special value,
> and then sort.

It is unclear what part of my posting you are commenting on. I assume it is
that last statement, since you truncate the rest of my posting.

Of course, RANDBETWEEN(1,891) is not equivalent to
ROUND(C2*COUNTA(A2:A892),0). The latter results in a user-specified
percentage (in C2) of 891, whereas the former results in a random
"percentage" over which the use has no control.

However, it is a matter of interpretation of what exactly the OP means by
"randomly select a percentage from a list".

I interpret it to mean "randomly select from a percentage of a list".

You might be assuming it means "select from a random percentage of a list".
But that begs the question: is the selection itself random (i.e. "randomly
select from a random percentage of a list"), or does it mean "select the
first random percentage of a list"?

If the OP had meant as you might assume, the OP's phrasing would be poor
grammar (misplaced antecedent). But we've seen much worse, of course. In
fact, the entire sentence leaves room for wild interpretations, since the OP
does not say what the list is composed of. I assume it is a list of names.
It could be a list of percentages ;-).


----- original message -----

"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton(a)verizon.net> wrote in message
news:%23iJN67a1KHA.4560(a)TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Joe wrote on Tue, 6 Apr 2010 09:50:00 -0700:
>
>> "Rocetman" <Rocetman(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>>> I am trying to randomly select a percentage from a list of
>>> 891 for assessment interviews.
>
>> If you want the percentage to be a "variable" -- a cell whose value you
>> provide, consider the following.
>
>> Suppose your data is in A2:A892. And suppose the desired percentage is
>> in C2, entered in the form 10% or 0.1. C2 can also be a
>> random percentage, which can be entered as =ROUND(RAND(),2)
>> for example.
>
>> In some out-of-the-way range, say X2:X892, put the formula =RAND()
>> into each cell.
>
>> Then, if you want B2:B892 to contain the random selection of a
>> percentage of the list in A2:A892, enter the following formula into
>> B2 and copy down through B892:
>
>> =IF(ROW()-ROW($B$2)+1 > $C$2*COUNTA($A$2:$A$892), "",
>> INDEX($A$2:$A$892, RANK(X2,$X$2:$X$892)))
>
>> Some important notes:
>
>> 1. You might prefer ROUND($C$2*COUNTA($A$2:$A$892), 0).
>
> You might consider using randbetween(1,891), paste special value, and then
> sort.
>
> --
>
> James Silverton
> Potomac, Maryland
>
> Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

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