Here is a command \xoverline[width percent]{symb} that will do it. Note that it will not scale inside sub or superscripts. If you need that, everthing has to go through a \mathchoice resulting in a lot more complex code.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb}
\makeatletter
\newsavebox\myboxA
\newsavebox\myboxB
\newlength\mylenA
\newcommand*\xoverline[2][0.75]{%
\sbox{\myboxA}{$\m@th#2$}%
\setbox\myboxB\null% Phantom box
\ht\myboxB=\ht\myboxA%
\dp\myboxB=\dp\myboxA%
\wd\myboxB=#1\wd\myboxA% Scale phantom
\sbox\myboxB{$\m@th\overline{\copy\myboxB}$}% Overlined phantom
\setlength\mylenA{\the\wd\myboxA}% calc width diff
\addtolength\mylenA{-\the\wd\myboxB}%
\ifdim\wd\myboxB<\wd\myboxA%
\rlap{\hskip 0.5\mylenA\usebox\myboxB}{\usebox\myboxA}%
\else
\hskip -0.5\mylenA\rlap{\usebox\myboxA}{\hskip 0.5\mylenA\usebox\myboxB}%
\fi}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
$|\xoverline{W}|~~
|\xoverline{i}|~~
|\xoverline[3.0]{i}|$
\bigskip
$\bar{\mathbb{R}}~~\overline{\mathbb{R}}~~\xoverline{\mathbb{R}}$
\end{document}
How do you type an overbar over the letter "P" to signify after? - Google Docs Editors Community
stacking symbols - The \bar and \overline commands - TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange
What do the symbols p with hat on top, x with bar on top, and s represent? Defined variables Variables of interest Sample statistics Population parameters
[Q] Why do we use x̄ as the symbol for sample mean?
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Here is a command \xoverline[width percent]{symb} that will do it. Note that it will not scale inside sub or superscripts. If you need that, everthing has to go through a \mathchoice resulting in a lot more complex code.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb}
\makeatletter
\newsavebox\myboxA
\newsavebox\myboxB
\newlength\mylenA
\newcommand*\xoverline[2][0.75]{%
\sbox{\myboxA}{$\m@th#2$}%
\setbox\myboxB\null% Phantom box
\ht\myboxB=\ht\myboxA%
\dp\myboxB=\dp\myboxA%
\wd\myboxB=#1\wd\myboxA% Scale phantom
\sbox\myboxB{$\m@th\overline{\copy\myboxB}$}% Overlined phantom
\setlength\mylenA{\the\wd\myboxA}% calc width diff
\addtolength\mylenA{-\the\wd\myboxB}%
\ifdim\wd\myboxB<\wd\myboxA%
\rlap{\hskip 0.5\mylenA\usebox\myboxB}{\usebox\myboxA}%
\else
\hskip -0.5\mylenA\rlap{\usebox\myboxA}{\hskip 0.5\mylenA\usebox\myboxB}%
\fi}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
$|\xoverline{W}|~~
|\xoverline{i}|~~
|\xoverline[3.0]{i}|$
\bigskip
$\bar{\mathbb{R}}~~\overline{\mathbb{R}}~~\xoverline{\mathbb{R}}$
\end{document}
I usually define a command \overbar, which reduced the width of \overline by 1.5mu on each side.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\newcommand{\overbar}[1]{\mkern 1.5mu\overline{\mkern-1.5mu#1\mkern-1.5mu}\mkern 1.5mu}
\begin{document}
$\bar{\mathbb{R}}$ $\overbar{\mathbb{R}}$ $\overline{\mathbb{R}}$
\end{document}
Perhaps more of a meta-statistics question than a statistics question, but I've been trying to understand the origins of the conventional symbols used in statistics and can't find any good sources. The two most common ways to distinguish a parameter from an estimator seem to be either using roughly equivalent Greek and Latin characters or hat. I've seen both 'π' and 'p' used to represent population proportions (though 'p' is definitely more common in introductory courses) and I've seen 'π' used often as a function in Bayesian statistics. Hat seems to be the preferred method of denoting an estimator for any new methods/unestablished/'non-canonical' statistics. Both 's' and 'σ' make a lot of sense, and 'μ' makes sense for population means, so where on earth did 'x̄' come from? Was 'm' already being used elsewhere? Did it come about before these conventions were established? I'm aware the 'X' is the goto for random variables and bar is generally used to denote means, but why? Why are there competing conventions, anyways?