When estimating the variance of a population from the sample, you cannot use the sample's variance directly because:
A)it is based on using absolute deviations
B)it is based on using squared deviations
C)it tends to be slightly too large
D)it tends to be slightly too small

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The sample's variance tends to be slightly too small, which leads to biased estimates of the population variance. This is because the sample variance uses the denominator of n-1 instead of n in the calculation, which decreases the value of the variance. To adjust for this, a correction factor (n/(n-1)) can be applied to the sample variance when estimating the population variance.

When Estimating the Variance of a Population from the Sample