Can someone please explain to me a simpler way of understanding standard deviation?
2007-10-11 23:39:54 · 2 answers · asked by ~♥Angel Of Music♥~ 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
In simplest terms, it's the average amount that each value is from the mean value. For example, if you have the following info for weights:
100, 140, 170, 180, and 200 kg, then the mean is 158kg, and the standard deviation is 39kg, meaning that the average amount that any single weight varies from the mean is 39kg.
2007-10-11 23:56:18 · answer #1 · answered by Rick B 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
For example, if we have 9, 10, 10, 10 and 11, the mean is 10.
And if we have 0, 2, 10, 18 and 20, the mean is 10 too.
But the two lists are not the same. The mean is inadequate to discribe correctly these lists. So we use the standard deviation which will be very small for the first list, and great for the second list
2007-10-12 13:30:31 · answer #2 · answered by Nestor 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋