How is the variance of a population denoted in statistics?

The variance of a population is denoted by the symbol σ^2 (sigma squared). This notation is widely used in statistics to represent the variance, which is a measure of the dispersion or spread of a set of values in a population. Specifically, population variance is calculated as the average of the squared differences from the mean of the population.

In contrast, the symbol s^2 denotes the variance of a sample rather than a population. μ represents the population mean, which is a different statistic that measures the central tendency of a population. The symbol p^2 generally refers to the variance of a proportion, which is not applicable in the context of overall population variance.

Thus, σ^2 is the correct answer as it accurately denotes the population variance according to standard statistical terminology.