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I also find the population/sample distinction to be bogus, too. IIRC, there are even some sources which switch around the meanings, too. In any case, the docstring should have a section saying, "If you are looking for what is called the "unbiased" or "sample" estimate of variance, use ddof=1." Those terms are widely, if incorrectly, used, so we should mention them. I just find it disheartening that the terms are used without qualification. First, let me state that I leaned statistics in German and hoped to find
Hello, the right translation term. For some terms, other languages may even not have a suitable translation. Second, I would suggest to include the actual formulas in such disputed docstrings. I have seen that depending of the area of work, people tend use correct scientific connotations or other terms (science vs. engineering). The sphinxext of matplotlib offers a very convenient way to include maths formulas. These would make it clear. In Excel (or Calc), the functions have different names but formulas remain. Thanks for the explanations. Kind regdards, Timmie