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Ismael Ghalimi
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Relative Variance

Is there a standard definition of the Relative Variance? Wikipedia defines it as the square of the coefficient of variation, but some articles define it as the variance divided by the absolute value of the mean. I tend to like Wikipedia's definition best, because it makes it normalized, allowing it to be used to compare variances across variables that are defined with different units.

$RV = \frac{\frac{1}{n} \sum\limits_{i=1}^n (x_i - \overline{x})^2}{\overline{x}^2} = \frac{\sigma^2}{\overline{x}^2}$

Ismael Ghalimi
  • 2k
  • 3
  • 16
  • 23