In Microsoft Excel, which worksheet function is used to count the number of cells within a range that meet a single given condition?

Introduction / Context:
In spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel, it is very common to analyse lists of data and count how many entries satisfy a specific condition. For example, you may want to count how many sales are above a target value, how many marks are greater than or equal to a pass mark, or how many cells contain a particular text. Excel provides specialised worksheet functions to perform these conditional counts quickly. This question focuses on identifying the correct function that counts cells in a range that meet one given condition, which is a basic but essential skill for data analysis in Excel.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• We are working in Microsoft Excel on a worksheet.
• There is a range of cells that may contain numbers or text.
• We want to count only those cells that satisfy one specified condition.
• The condition could be a value comparison or a text match.
• The options list several function names that look similar.

Concept / Approach:
The key concept is conditional counting. Excel offers a dedicated function called COUNTIF that follows the syntax COUNTIF(range, criteria). The first argument specifies the group of cells to check, and the second defines the condition. Excel then counts how many cells in the range satisfy that single condition. The simpler COUNT function only counts numeric cells and does not apply a condition. Names like SUMCOUNT and COUNTSUM are not real Excel functions. COUNTIFS is a related function, but it is used when you need to apply multiple criteria across one or more ranges rather than a single condition in a simple range.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Read the question carefully and note the phrase “within a range that meet a single given condition.”Step 2: Recall the syntax COUNTIF(range, criteria), which is designed exactly for one condition on a range.Step 3: Compare this with COUNT, which only counts numeric values without checking any condition.Step 4: Observe that SUMCOUNT and COUNTSUM are not standard Excel functions and therefore cannot be correct.Step 5: Notice that COUNTIFS is used when multiple conditions must be satisfied, so it does not match the wording focused on a single condition.Step 6: Conclude that COUNTIF is the correct function for this scenario.

Verification / Alternative check:
A quick verification method is to imagine a practical example. Suppose you have marks in cells A2 to A11 and you want to count how many marks are greater than or equal to 40. In Excel you would write COUNTIF(A2:A11, ">=40"). This formula checks each cell in the range and increments the count when the condition is met. If you tried COUNT(A2:A11, ">=40"), Excel would not even accept the second argument, because COUNT does not use criteria. Similarly, if you tried COUNTIFS with only one range and one criterion, it would still work but is intended for more complex scenarios. The textbook and help documentation for Excel clearly describe COUNTIF as the function for a single conditional count.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• COUNT simply counts how many cells contain numbers and does not use a criteria argument.
• SUMCOUNT is not a valid Excel function and appears only as a distractor in the options.
• COUNTSUM is also not a recognised Excel function name.
• COUNTIFS is used when multiple conditions must be satisfied; the question clearly focuses on a single given condition in one range.

Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to confuse COUNT and COUNTIF because their names are similar. Learners may also assume that any function containing the word COUNT will work with criteria, which is not true. Another pitfall is to misuse COUNTIFS when only a simple single condition is needed, making formulas unnecessarily complex. To avoid confusion, remember that COUNTIF is for one range and one condition, while COUNTIFS handles multiple criteria. Knowing this distinction improves the accuracy and readability of your Excel formulas on real world data sets.

Final Answer:
The correct answer is COUNTIF, which is the Microsoft Excel function used to count the number of cells within a range that meet a single given condition.