!

Statistics How To
Statistics for the rest of us!

Variance: Simple
Definition, Step by Step
Examples

Contents:

1. Definition
2. How do I calculate it?
3. How Much Can Data Vary?
4. Variance of a Binomial Distribution
5. Population Variance
6. Sample Variance
7. Variance on a TI-83

Definition
We encourage you to view our updated
policy on cookies and affiliates. Find Okay, thanks
out more.
Variance measures how far a data set is spread
out. The technical definition is “The average of the
squared differences from the mean,” but all it
really does is to give you a very general idea of
the spread of your data data. A value of zero means
that there is no variability; All the numbers in the
data set are the same.

The data set 12, 12, 12, 12, 12 has a var. of

zero (the numbers are identical).
The data set 12, 12, 12, 12, 13 has a var. of
0.167; a small change in the numbers equals
a very small var.
The data set 12, 12, 12, 12, 13,013 has a var.
of 28171000; a large change in the numbers
equals a very large number.

How varied is your data set?

How Much Can Data

Vary?
The smallest a variance gets is zero, but
technically, it can be infinite with numbers in the
millions or even billions and beyond.

How do I calculate it?

The variance for a population is calculated by:

1. Finding the mean(the average).

2. Subtracting the mean from each number in
the data set and then squaring the result.
The results are squared to make the
negatives positive. Otherwise negative
numbers would cancel out the positives in
the next step. It’s the distance from the mean
that’s important, not positive or negative
numbers.
3. Averaging the squared differences.

However, it’s more usual in statistics to find the

variance for a sample
sample. When you calculate it for a
sample, divide by the sample size minus one (Why
use n-1?) when calculating the average squared
difference in Step 3 above. See: Finding Sample
Variance.

Use our online var. and standard deviation

calculator, which shows you the step-by-step
calculations for your individual data set.
You can also calculate the σ2 in Minitab.

Standard Deviation
The square root of the variance is the standard
deviation. While var. gives you a rough idea of
spread, the standard deviation is more concrete,
giving you exact distances from the mean.

Back to Top

Variance of a Binomial
Distribution
A binomial distribution is a simple experiment
where there is “success” or “failure.” For example,
choosing a winning lottery ticket could be a
binomial experiment (you either win or lose!).
Tossing a coin to try and get heads is also
binomial (with tossing a heads being a “success”
and a tails a “failure”). The formula for the
variance of binomial distribution is n*p (1-p) or
n*p*q. The two formulas are equivalent because
q = (1-p).

Sample problem:
problem:If you flip a coin 50 times and
try to get heads, what is the variance of binomial
distribution?

Step 1: Find “p”. The first step to solving this

problem is to realize that the probability of
getting a heads is 50 percent, or .5. Therefore, “p”
(the probability) is .5.

Step 2: Find “q”, or 1-p. These two are equivalent.

They are the probability of not getting a heads (in
other words, the probability of getting a tails). 1 –
0.5 = 0.5. Therefore, “q” (or 1 – p) = 0.5.

Step 3: Multiply Step 1 (p) by Step 2 (q) by “n” (the

number of trials). We are flipping the coin 50
times, so the number of trials is 50 (n = 50).

N * p * q = 50 * .5 * .5 = 12.5.

The var. of binomial distribution for flipping a coin

50 times is 12.5.

OK, So what does the Binomial Variance

mean?

In essence, not a lot! The variance isn’t used for

much at all, except for calculating standard
deviation. For example, the standard deviation for
this particular binomial distribution is:
√12.5 = 3.54.
You’ll use the variance for things like calculating
z-scores (this typically comes later in a stats class,
after normal distributions), which has a standard
deviation in the bottom of the formula:

Alternate form of the z score.

Back to Top

Population Variance
The population variance is a type of parameter
parameter.
If you aren’t sure what a parameter is, you may
want to review:
What is the Difference Between a Statistic and a
Parameter?

The formula is:

Watch the video to learn how to find the

population variance or read the steps below:

How to find the

Population Variance.
Most of the time in statistics, you’ll want to find
the sample variance, not the population variance.
Why? Because statistics is usually all about
making inferences from samples, not populations.
If you had all of the data from a population, there
would be no need for statistics at all! That said,
there really is very little difference between the
formula for the population variance and the
formula for the sample variance. If you have
sample data, you can still use this formula. You’d
just need to insert your data into the columns
instead of your population data. If you prefer to
plug the numbers straight into the formula, just
make sure you use the population mean and not
the sample mean(). In addition, the most common
sample variance formula uses n-1 in the
denominator instead of n.

Sample problem: Find the population variance

for the following set of numbers: 28, 29, 30, 31,
32.
Step 1: Draw a table. Label the columns as shown
and then write down your X values (the items in
your population) in column 1:

X X-μ (X-μ)^2

28

29

30

31

32

Step 2: Find the mean. The mean for this set of

data is (28 + 29 + 30 + 31 + 32) / 5 = 30.

Step 3: Fill in column 2. This column is your X

value minus the mean. For example, the first entry
is 28 – 30 = -2.

X X-μ (X-μ)^2

28 -2

29 -1

30 0

31 1

32 2

Step 4: Square the values from Step 3 and place

those squares in the third column:

X X-μ (X-μ)^2

28 -2 4

29 -1 1

30 0 0

31 1 1

32 2 4

Step 5: Add up all of the numbers in column 3

(this is the summation Σ part of the formula):
4 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 4 = 10

Step 6: Divide by the number of items in your data

set:
10 / 5 = 2
The population variance for this set of data is 2.

Back to Top

Variance on a TI-83
Watch the video or read the article below:

Variance on a TI-83
Overview
You could find the standard deviation for a list of
data using the TI 83 calculator and square the
result, but you won’t get an accurate answer
unless you square the entire answer, including all
of the significant digits. There’s a “trick” to getting
the TI-83 variance, and it involves copying the
standard deviation to the Home screen and then
squaring it to get the variance.

Variance on a TI-83:
Steps
Sample problem: Find the variance for the
heights of the top 12 buildings in London,
England. The heights, (in feet) are: 800, 720, 655,
655, 625, 600, 590, 529, 513, 502, 502, 502.

Step 1: Enter the above data into a list. Press the

STAT button and then press ENTER. Enter the first
number (800), and then press ENTER. Continue
entering numbers, pressing ENTER after each
entry.

Step 2: Press STAT.

Step 3: Press the right arrow button (the arrow

keys are located at the top right of the keypad) to
select Calc
Calc.

Step 4: Press ENTER to highlight 1-Var Stats

Stats.

Step 5: Press ENTER again to bring up a list of

stats.

Step 6: Press VARS 5 to bring up a list of the

available Statistics variables.

Step 7: Press 3 to select “Sx” which is our

standard deviation.

Step 8: Press x2, then Enter to display the

variance, which is 9326.628788
9326.628788.

That’s how to find the Variance on a TI-83!

Back to Top

Lost your guidebook? You can download a new

one here from the Texas Instruments website.

Check out our YouTube channel for hundreds of

step-by-step statistics videos.

Find an article
Search

Feel like "cheating" at Statistics? Check

out the grade-increasing book that's
recommended reading at top universities!

Need help NOW with a homework

problem? Click here!

Copyright ©2019 Statistics How To | Theme by:

Theme Horse | Powered by: WordPress

Standard Deviation: Simple De1nition,

Step by Step Video
What is a
Parameter in
Statistics

Sample Variance:
Simple De1nition,
How to Find it in
Easy Steps

Con1dence
Interval: How to
Find a Con1dence
Interval: The Easy
Way

Interquartile
Range (IQR):
What it is and
How to Find it

T Score Formula:
Calculate in Easy
Steps

Percentiles,
Percentile Rank &
Percentile Range:
De1nition &
Examples

Range of a Set of
Data in Math and
Statistics

Grouped Data /
Ungrouped Data:
De1nition,
Examples

Cronbach's Alpha:
Simple De1nition,
Use and
Interpretation

Duncan's Multiple
Range Test (MRT

What are
Quartiles?