The sample variance $$s ^ { 2 }$$ is an unbiased estimator of the population variance $$\sigma ^ { 2 }$$ when the denominator of $$s ^ { 2 }$$ is n - 1.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The sample variance $s^2$ is an unbiased estimator of the population variance $\sigma^2$ when the denominator is $n - 1$ because using $n - 1$ (degrees of freedom) corrects the bias that results from estimating the population mean with the sample mean.

The Sample Variance s2s ^ { 2 }s2 Is an Unbiased Estimator of the Population Variance

The Sample Variance $s ^ { 2 }$ Is an Unbiased Estimator of the Population Variance