VARIANCE aggregate function

The VARIANCE function returns the biased variance (division by n) of a set of numbers.

The schema is SYSIBM.

expression: An expression that returns a value of any built-in numeric data type.

If the argument is DECFLOAT(n), the result is DECFLOAT(n); otherwise, the result is double-precision floating-point. The result can be null.

The function is applied to the set of values derived from the argument values by the elimination of null values. If DISTINCT is specified, redundant duplicate values are eliminated. When interpreting the DISTINCT clause for decimal floating-point values that are numerically equal, the number of significant digits in the value is not considered. For example, the decimal floating-point number 123.00 is not distinct from the decimal floating-point number 123. The representation of the number returned from the query will be any one of the representations encountered (for example, either 123.00 or 123).

If the function is applied to an empty set, the result is a null value. Otherwise, the result is the variance of the values in the set.

The calculation that is used to determine the biased variance is logically equivalent to the following formula:

VARIANCE = SUM(expression**2)/COUNT(expression) - (SUM(expression)/COUNT(expression))**2

The order in which the values are added is undefined, but every intermediate result must be within the range of the result data type.

VAR or VAR_POP can be specified in place of VARIANCE.

Example

Set the host variable VARNCE, whose data type is double-precision floating point, to the variance of the salaries for those employees in department 'A00' of the EMPLOYEE table.

   SELECT VARIANCE(SALARY)
     INTO :VARNCE
     FROM EMPLOYEE
     WHERE WORKDEPT = 'A00'

Results in VARNCE being set to approximately 98763888.88 when using the sample table.

The following result set is shown for reference.

   SELECT SALARY FROM EMPLOYEE WHERE WORKDEPT = 'A00'

SALARY     
-----------
  152750.00
   66500.00
   49250.00
   46500.00
   39250.00

  5 record(s) selected.