Accession Number:

ADP007165

Title:

Didactic and Production Software for Computing Sample Variances,

Descriptive Note:

Corporate Author:

OTTAWA UNIV (ONTARIO)

Personal Author(s):

• Nash, John C.

Report Date:

1992-01-01

Pagination or Media Count:

4.0

Abstract:

The standard deviation or equivalently the variance of a sample of numbers is one of the most elementary concepts in statistics. Yet this computation harbours a number of serious difficulties, especially when the sample is large and the standard deviation is small relative to the mean. This contribution will describe prototype software for both didactic and production use to allow reliable calculation of sample variances or equivalently standard deviations, for a wide variety of sample sizes and data characteristics. Several illustrations of the software and its evaluation will be presented, if appropriate accompanied by a live demonstration.

Descriptors:

• *STANDARD DEVIATION
• COMPUTATIONS
• DEMONSTRATIONS
• MEAN
• NUMBERS
• PRODUCTION
• PROTOTYPES
• STANDARDS
• STATISTICS

Subject Categories:

• Statistics and Probability

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE