Which Excel function is used to calculate the sample variance?

The function used to calculate sample variance in Excel is indeed =VAR.S(). This function specifically focuses on the formula for calculating variance based on a sample subset of a population. When dealing with sample data, it employs Bessel's correction, which involves dividing by ( n-1 ) (where ( n ) is the sample size) instead of ( n ) to provide an unbiased estimate of the population variance.

Using =VAR.S() is essential when the dataset being analyzed is a sample rather than the entire population because it adjusts for the fact that sample data typically underestimates the population variance. Hence, the use of ( n-1 ) in the denominator accounts for this bias.

The other functions available in the choices serve different purposes:

• =VAR.P() is used for calculating the variance of an entire population without any adjustments.
• =STDEV.S() and =STDEV.P() compute standard deviation, with the first for a sample and the latter for a population, but they do not directly calculate variance.

Therefore, knowing when to use each function is crucial for accurately analyzing data in Excel.