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[3.12] gh-64588: Clarify the difference between mu and xbar in statis…
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…tics docs (GH-117333) (#118080)

gh-64588: Clarify the difference between mu and xbar in statistics docs (GH-117333)

Thanks Davin Potts for the clarification idea.
(cherry picked from commit fefd5d9)

Co-authored-by: Mariusz Felisiak <felisiak.mariusz@gmail.com>
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miss-islington and felixxm authored Apr 19, 2024
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14 changes: 7 additions & 7 deletions Doc/library/statistics.rst
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Expand Up @@ -449,9 +449,9 @@ However, for reading convenience, most of the examples show sorted sequences.
variance indicates that the data is spread out; a small variance indicates
it is clustered closely around the mean.

If the optional second argument *mu* is given, it is typically the mean of
the *data*. It can also be used to compute the second moment around a
point that is not the mean. If it is missing or ``None`` (the default),
If the optional second argument *mu* is given, it should be the *population*
mean of the *data*. It can also be used to compute the second moment around
a point that is not the mean. If it is missing or ``None`` (the default),
the arithmetic mean is automatically calculated.

Use this function to calculate the variance from the entire population. To
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -521,8 +521,8 @@ However, for reading convenience, most of the examples show sorted sequences.
the data is spread out; a small variance indicates it is clustered closely
around the mean.

If the optional second argument *xbar* is given, it should be the mean of
*data*. If it is missing or ``None`` (the default), the mean is
If the optional second argument *xbar* is given, it should be the *sample*
mean of *data*. If it is missing or ``None`` (the default), the mean is
automatically calculated.

Use this function when your data is a sample from a population. To calculate
Expand All @@ -538,8 +538,8 @@ However, for reading convenience, most of the examples show sorted sequences.
>>> variance(data)
1.3720238095238095

If you have already calculated the mean of your data, you can pass it as the
optional second argument *xbar* to avoid recalculation:
If you have already calculated the sample mean of your data, you can pass it
as the optional second argument *xbar* to avoid recalculation:

.. doctest::

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