variance(list)

Overview

The variance function calculates the sample variance of a given list of numbers. Variance is a statistical measurement of the spread between numbers in a dataset.

Parameters

Parameter Name	Type	Description	Required	Default Value
list	table	A list of numerical values for which the variance will be calculated. The list must contain at least two numerical values.	Yes	N/A

Returns

Type	Description	Possible Values
number	The sample variance of the elements in the list. The return value will be a floating-point number.	Any numerical value

Constraints

• The list parameter must be a table containing numerical values only.
• The table must have at least two elements; otherwise, the function will return 0 as there's not enough data to calculate the variance.
• It finds the sample variance, not population variance.

Example Use

local myList = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

-- The sample variance will be 2.5
local result = StatBook.variance(myList)
print(result)