What is the primary use of the AVERAGE function in Excel?

The AVERAGE function in Excel is specifically designed to calculate the mean of a set of numbers. When you apply this function to a range of cells, it adds all the numerical values within that range and then divides the sum by the count of those values. This is particularly useful in analyzing data to understand central tendency, allowing users to derive meaningful insights from data sets, such as performance metrics, survey results, or financial figures.

The other options, while related to data analysis in Excel, serve different purposes. Counting the number of cells, summing values, and finding minimum values utilize different functions: COUNT, SUM, and MIN, respectively. Each of these functions has its distinct use cases and is valuable in data analysis, but the AVERAGE function distinctly focuses on calculating the mean of a set, making it essential for tasks where understanding the overall trend or strength of a dataset is necessary.