Apple Numbers '08 - Manual (Page 286)

286 Chapter 12 Dictionary of Functions
VARP
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.
VARPA
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.
Examples
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.
Examples
VARPA(TRUE, TRUE, TRUE, TRUE, 6) returns 4. Each TRUE counts as 1.
VARPA("a", 3, 6, 3, "b") displays an error.