VarianceP
Purpose 
Returns the variance of a population represented by a series of non-blank values in field.
Format 
VarianceP(field{;field...})
Parameters 
field - any related field, repeating field, or set of non-repeating fields; or an expression that returns a field, repeating field, or set of non-repeating fields.
Parameters in curly braces { } are optional.
Data type returned 
number
Originated in 
FileMaker Pro 7.0
Description 
The variance of a population distribution is a measure of how spread out the distribution is. Field can be any of the following:
 •
a repeating field (repeatingField).
 •
a field in matching related records specified by (table::field), whether or not these records appear in a portal.
 •
several non-repeating fields in a record (field1;field2;field3...).
 •
corresponding repetitions of repeating fields in a record (repeatingField1;repeatingField2;repeatingField3), if the result is returned in a repeating field with at least the same number of repeats.
 •
several fields in the first matching record specified by (table::field1;table::field2;...). You can include fields from different tables (table 1::field A;table 2::field B...).
Equation
Examples 
A portal displays the related values 5, 6, 7, and 8 in Scores.
VarianceP(table::Scores) returns 1.25.
In the following examples:
 •
Field1 contains two repetitions with values of 1 and 2.
 •
Field2 contains four repetitions with values of 5, 6, 7, and 8.
 •
Field3 contains four repetitions with values of 6, 0, 4, and 4.
 •
Field4 contains one repetition with a value of 3.
VarianceP(Field4) results in an error since the variance of a single value is not defined.
VarianceP(Field1;Field2;Field3) returns 4.66666666..., 6.22222222..., 2.25, 4 if the calculation is a repeating field.
Student example
Two classes of students take an exam. Class 1 has scores of 70, 71, 70, 74, 75, 73, 72 and Class 2 has scores of 55, 80, 75, 40, 65, 50, 95. The population variance for each class is:
Class 1: 3.26530612...
Class 2: 310.20408163...
The population variance for Class 1 is much lower than the population variance for Class 2 because the scores for Class 1 are more tightly clustered.
Related topics 
Functions reference (category list)
Functions reference (alphabetical list)
About formulas
About functions
Defining calculation fields
Using operators in formulas
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