In calculating the sample variance, the sum of the squared deviations around the mean is divided by n - 1 to avoid underestimating the unknown population variance.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This statement is true. The formula for calculating the sample variance is:

s^2 = Σ(x- x̄)^2 / (n-1)

where s^2 is the sample variance, x̄ is the sample mean, x is each individual value in the sample, and n is the sample size. Dividing by n-1 instead of n corrects for the fact that the sample mean is used to estimate the population mean, which means there is slightly less information about the underlying population variance. This adjustment is necessary to make sure the sample variance is an unbiased estimator of the population variance.

In Calculating the Sample Variance, the Sum of the Squared