The Excel FISHER Function

Related Function:
FISHERINV Function
Fisher Transformation

The Fisher Transformation is frequently used to test hypotheses on the correlation coefficient.

The formula for the Fisher Transformation is:

Fisher Transformation Function

This function is shown in the graph below:

Plot of Fisher Trasformation
See the Wikipedia Fisher Transformation page for further details.

Function Description

The Excel Fisher function calculates the Fisher Transformation for a supplied value.

The syntax of the function is:

FISHER( x )

Where x is the value at which you want to calculate the Fisher Transformation.


Fisher Function Examples

In the spreadsheets below, the Excel Fisher Function is used to calculate the Fisher Transformation for 3 different values.

 Formulas:
  A
1 =FISHER( -0.9 )
2 =FISHER( -0.25 )
3 =FISHER( 0.8 )
 Results:
  A
1 -1.47221949
2 -0.255412812
3 1.098612289

For further details and examples of the Excel Fisher function, see the Microsoft Office website.


Fisher Function Errors

If you get an error from the Excel Fisher function this is likely to be one of the following:

Common Errors
#NUM! - Occurs if the supplied value of x is ≤ -1 or ≥ +1.
#VALUE! - Occurs if the supplied value of x is non-numeric.