ulate the variance from the entire population. To estimate the variance from a sample, the ``variance`` function is usually a better choice. Examples: >>> data = [0.0, 0.25, 0.25, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2.75, 3.25] >>> pvariance(data) 1.25 If you have already calculated the mean of the data, you can pass it as the optional second argument to avoid recalculating it: >>> mu = mean(data) >>> pvariance(data, mu) 1.25 Decimals and Fractions are supported: >>> from decimal import Decimal as D >>> pvariance([D("27.5"), D("30.25"), D("30.25"), D("34.5"), D("41.75")]) Decimal('24.815') >>> from fractions import Fraction as F >>> pvariance([F(1, 4), F(5, 4), F(1, 2)]) Fraction(13, 72) r@