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Variance for Vector of Constants is Not Zero

Barry Zajdlik 
Hi All,

An annoying but not critical problem I am having is that the variance of
a vector of constants is reported as > 0. I imagine there is a simple
workaround for the following but could not find it after having spent an
embarrassing amount of time.

In Splus:
In R:

x<-rep(0.02,10)
var(x)
1.337451e-35

I assumed the problem had to do with machine precision and suitably
modified .Machine$double.eps and .Machine$double.neg.eps which I thought
would fix the problem but without success. Any pointers to a solution
would be appreciated!

Cheers,
Barry Zajdlik

Thread (15 messages)

Tyler Smith Ubuntu and R Feb 16 Fernando Mayer Ubuntu and R Feb 16 Clint Harshaw Ubuntu and R Feb 16 Barry Zajdlik Variance for Vector of Constants is Not Zero Feb 16 John Variance for Vector of Constants is Not Zero Feb 16 Spencer Graves Variance for Vector of Constants is Not Zero Feb 16 Uwe Ligges Variance for Vector of Constants is Not Zero Feb 16 Brian Ripley Variance for Vector of Constants is Not Zero Feb 16 Jari Oksanen Variance for Vector of Constants is Not Zero Feb 16 Barry Zajdlik Variance for Vector of Constants is STILL Not Zero Feb 17 Peter Ehlers Variance for Vector of Constants is STILL Not Zero Feb 17 Thomas Lumley Variance for Vector of Constants is STILL Not Zero Feb 17 Duncan Murdoch Variance for Vector of Constants is STILL Not Zero Feb 17 Spencer Graves Variance for Vector of Constants is STILL Not Zero Feb 18 Brian Ripley Variance for Vector of Constants is STILL Not Zero Feb 18