Variance
Definition
The average of the squared deviations from the mean. Because it squares the original unit of measurement, variance is not directly interpretable in the original units, but it is the basis for the standard deviation.
Related terms
- Mean
- The arithmetic average of a dataset, calculated as the sum of all values divided by the number of values. Sensitive to extreme...
- Median
- The middle value of a dataset sorted in ascending or descending order. For an even number of values, it is the average...
- Mode
- The value that appears most frequently in a dataset. Most informative for discrete or categorical data; for continuous measurement data it is...
- Refractive index (RI)
- A physical property of glass measuring how much light bends as it passes through. RI is the primary discriminating characteristic used in...
- Standard deviation
- The square root of the variance. Expressed in the same units as the original measurement, making it interpretable as a typical distance...
Explained in
- Descriptive Statistics for Forensic DataThe average of the squared deviations from the mean. Because it squares the original unit of measurement, variance is not directly interpretable in the origina...