The process of estimating the population variance from the scores in the sample involves
A)using a special table to find the estimated variance.
B)proceeding normally but interpreting the results with caution.
C)dividing the sum of squared deviations by N - 1 instead of N.
D)multiplying the sample variance by the degrees of freedom.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To estimate the population variance from the sample, we need to divide the sum of squared deviations by N - 1 instead of N. This is known as the formula for the sample variance, which corrects for the fact that we have one less degree of freedom (i.e., one less independent observation) in the sample compared to the population. This adjustment allows us to obtain an unbiased estimate of the population variance that takes into account the variability of the sample. Thus, the correct choice is C. The other choices are incorrect because there is no special table for estimating the variance, we do not need to interpret the results with more caution than usual, and we do not need to multiply the sample variance by the degrees of freedom.

The Process of Estimating the Population Variance from the Scores