When estimating the population's variance from the scores in a sample, you should:
A)look on a special table to find the estimated variance
B)proceed normally, but interpret the results with caution
C)divide the sum of squared deviations by N-1 instead of N
D)multiply the sample's variance by the degrees of freedom

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

When estimating the population's variance from a sample, the correct approach is to divide the sum of squared deviations by N-1 (where N is the sample size) instead of N. This adjustment, known as using the degrees of freedom, corrects the bias in the estimation of a population variance from a sample.

When Estimating the Population's Variance from the Scores in a Sample