What does standard deviation mean?

Standard deviation is: It is a measure of how spread out numbers are. It is the square root of the Variance, and the Variance is the average of the squared differences from the Mean.

For example: To find the standard deviation, you have to add up all the numbers in the data set, then divide by how many numbers there are, and that will get you your answer.

Example,  Say your data set is: 9, 2, 5, 4, 12, 7, 8, 11, 9, 3, 7, 4, 12, 5, 4, 10, 9, 6, 9, 4.

The Mean is: 9 + 2 + 5 + 4 + 12 + 7 + 8 + 11 + 9 + 3 + 7 + 4 + 12 + 5 + 4 + 10+ 9 + 6 + 9 + 4. Over 20. That equals: 104 over 20 = 7.

So, the Standard Variance and  Mean is: 7 for this problem.

Hope I helped!

- Debbie