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On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 04:10, Timmie <timmichelsen@gmx-topmail.de> wrote:
Hello,
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 the right translation term. For some terms, other languages may even not have a suitable translation.
The terms are commonly used in English the same way that you are using them. I just happen to disagree with the common practice.
Second, I would suggest to include the actual formulas in such disputed docstrings.
The development version does: http://docs.scipy.org/numpy/docs/numpy.core.fromnumeric.std/ (before I edited it just now, even). -- Robert Kern "I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth." -- Umberto Eco