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variance

variance(a, b, c, ...)

variance(A)

variance(A, dimension)

variance(A, normalization)

variance(A, dimension, normalization)

Try it yourself:

See also:
max mean min median min prod std sum

variance(): measure spread around a mean

variance(values) measures how far values spread around their average, using squared deviations. A low variance indicates tightly clustered values; a high variance indicates greater dispersion.

Example

The values [4, 5, 6] have less variance than [1, 5, 9], although both have mean 5. Squaring prevents positive and negative deviations from cancelling.

Related statistics

Use mean() for the center, std() for square-root scale, sum() for totals, and quantileSeq() for distribution cutoffs. size() checks sample size.

Caveat

Know whether your analysis requires population or sample variance, and validate missing or non-finite values before aggregation.

Try Variance in Calcul.io

Start with one of the editable examples above, then replace its arguments with your own values. Keeping the function on a separate calculator line makes the input and result easy to compare. For a longer workflow, assign the result to a variable or reference that line in the next expression.

Check the shown signature before adding optional arguments, and use the related-function links to compare operations with similar purposes.

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