Apple numbers User Manual

    Dictionary of Functions 

 

The VARP function calculates the population (true) variance of a set of numbers.

VARP(number, [number, . . .])

 number:  One or more numbers or numeric expressions, or references to cells 

containing numbers or numeric expressions.

Notes
The VARP function divides the sum of the squares of the deviations of the data points 
by the number of values to find the population, or true, variance (as opposed to the 
sample, or unbiased, variance). This is appropriate if the data points make up the entire 
data set. If the specified numbers are only a sample of a larger data set, you should use 
the VAR function to find the sample (unbiased) variance.
  

The VARPA function calculates the population (true) variance of a set of values, 
including text values and Boolean values. Text values and the Boolean value FALSE are 
included as if they are the number 0, logical TRUE as a 1.

VARPA(value, [value, . . .])

 value:  One or more numeric or Boolean values or references to cells containing 

numeric, textual, or Boolean values.

Notes
The VARPA function divides the sum of the squares of the deviations of the data points 
by the number of values to find the population, or true, variance (as opposed to the 
sample, or unbiased, variance). This is appropriate if the data points make up the entire 
data set. If the specified numbers are only a sample of a larger data set, you should use 
the VARA function to find the sample (unbiased) variance.

For a data set containing only numbers, VARPA returns the same result as VARP.

  

VARP(5, 5, 5, 5, 6) returns a variance of 0.16 based on an average of 5.2.

VARP(1, 2, 3, 4, 5) returns a variance of 2 based on an average of 3.

VARP(1, 1, 1, 1, 6) returns a variance of 4 based on an average of 2.

VARP(2, 2, 4, 6, 6) returns a variance of 3.2 based on an average of 4.

VARPA(TRUE, TRUE, TRUE, TRUE, 6) returns 4. Each TRUE counts as 1.

VARPA("a", 3, 6, 3, "b") displays an error.