The VARIANCE function calculates the variablity from the mean (or average) value. Oracle Rdb provides the following variance statistical functions: o VARIANCE Calculates the variance of the value set. o VAR_POP This function calculates the variance for the population. It is equivalent to VARIANCE with degrees of freedom fixed at 0, that is, SET FLAGS 'VARIANCE_DOF(0)' which is the default setting. o VAR_SAMP This function calculates the variance for a subset or sampling of the population. It is equivalent to VARIANCE with degrees of freedom fixed at 1, that is, SET FLAGS 'VARIANCE_DOF(1)'. By convention one degree of freedom is used when the sampling of the population is performed.