silemus.

43Sample mean and variance

Data: 2,4,4,4,5,5,7,9\displaystyle 2, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 7, 9. Find the sample mean and the sample variance (dividing by n−1\displaystyle n - 1). Give the answer to 4 decimal places.

Mean = sum ÷ n = 40/8 = 5.0000. Variance = sum of squared deviations ÷ (n−1) = 32/7 = 4.5714. Dividing by n−1 (not n) gives the unbiased sample variance. Check: 7 × 4.5714 ≈ 32.0000 ✓.

How good is this answer?