A statistical quantity indicating the number of values which could be arbitrarily assigned within the specification of a system of observations. For simple
replication, with
measurements and one estimated parameter (the mean),
.
More generally, for multivariable computations, the number of degrees of freedom equals the number of observations minus the number of fitted parameters.
Source:
PAC, 1994, 66, 595
(Nomenclature for the presentation of results of chemical analysis (IUPAC Recommendations 1994))
on page 599
