population covariance

population covariance

[‚päp·yə′lā·shən kō′ver·ē·əns] (statistics) The number (1/ N)[(v1-v̄)· (w1- w̄) + ⋯ + (vN - v̄)(wN - w̄)], where vi and wi , i = 1, 2, …, N, are the values obtained from two populations, and v̄ and w̄ are the respective means.