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Chapter 10 Statistical Functions 299

Usage Notes

The VAR function nds the sample (unbiased) variance by dividing the sum of the Â

squares of the deviations of the data points by one less than the number of values.

It is appropriate to use VAR when the specied values represent only a sample of a Â

larger population. If the values you are analyzing represent the entire collection or

population, use the VARP function.

If you want to include text or Boolean values in the computation, use the VARA function. Â

The square root of the variance returned by the VAR function is returned by the Â

STDEV function.

Examples

Assume you have administered ve tests to a group of students. You have arbitrarily selected ve

students to represent the total population of students (note that this is an example only; this would

not likely be statistically valid). Using the sample data, you could use the VAR function to determine

which test had the widest dispersion of test scores.

The results of the VAR functions are approximately 520.00, 602.00, 90.30, 65.20, and 11.20. So test 2

had the highest dispersion, followed closely by test 1. The other three tests had low dispersion.

Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Test 5

Student 1 75 82 90 78 84

Student 2 100 90 95 88 90

Student 3 40 80 78 90 85

Student 4 80 35 95 98 92

Student 5 75 82 90 78 84

=VAR(B2:B6) =VAR(C2:C6) =VAR(D2:D6) =VAR(E2:E6) =VAR(F2:F6)