When Computing the Variance, Why Do We Square the Deviations

Multiple Choice

When computing the variance, why do we square the deviations from the mean?

A) To return the units of measure to their original form
B) To compensate for the fact that the number of degrees of freedom is different from N
C) To transform the raw scores into squared scores
D) To compensate for the fact deviations about the mean always sum to zero