Which function in Excel is primarily used for calculating the average of a set of numbers?

The AVERAGE function in Excel is specifically designed to calculate the mean value of a set of numbers. When you use this function, you simply input a range of cells containing the numerical values you want to average, and it computes the total sum of these values divided by the count of the numbers in the specified range. This function is highly useful in statistical analysis, providing a quick way to understand central tendency in your data set.

In contrast, other functions have distinct purposes: the SUM function adds all the numbers in a range but does not calculate an average; the MEDIAN function finds the middle value in a sorted list of numbers, which can be particularly useful in identifying the center of a data set that may have outliers; and the COUNT function simply counts how many entries there are in a range, regardless of their values. Each of these functions serves a specific analytical need, but for calculating an average, AVERAGE is the appropriate choice.