Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Santa Cruz Main Campus
Graduate Studies and Applied Research

EDUC 501 ADVANCED STATISTICS

Standard Deviation
Professor: DR. LUCITA G. SUBILLAGA
Reporter: Jean Paul V. Banay M.A.Ed. E.M.
STANDARD DEVIATION
The Standard Deviation is a number that measures how far away each number in a set of data is from
their mean. Standard Deviation shows the variation in data. If the data is close together, the standard
deviation will be small. If the data is spread out, the standard deviation will be large. Standard Deviation is
often denoted by the lowercase Greek letter sigma, .
SAMPLE STANDARD DEVIATION
Of all the measures of variability, the standard deviation is the most widely employed because it is used
in so many statictical operations. The formula in finding the standard deviation for ungrouped or sample
standard deviation is:

2
2
( X X )
x
S=
=
N
N

Where:

S = the standard deviation

x2 = the total of the squared deviation from the mean
N = total number of cases or scores

Example: Find the standard deviation of this set of scores 25, 23, 21, 19, 17, 15, 13, 9, 5, 3
Solution:
First, find the
mean:
X = 150 /10
X = 15
Next, subtract the
mean to the raw
score

x=X X
Then, square the
result
x2

S=

X
25
23
21
19
17
15
13
9
5
3
x = 150

X-

25 15
23 15
21 15
19 15
17 15
15 15
13 15
9 15
5 15
3 15

x2

10
8
6
4
2
0
-2
-6
-10
-12

100
64
36
16
4
0
4
36
100
144
2
x = 504

x2
504
=
= 50.4=7.10
N
10

The solution can be best understood by applying the following steps of the standard deviation for
ungrouped data.
1. Solve for the mean of the distribution.
2. Find the deviation by subtracting the mean from each raw score.
3. Square each deviation by multiplying each deviation by itself, and then add these scores together.

4. The sum of the squared deviations is divided by N, then get the square root to obtain the final
answer.
In other texts, the formula for the standard deviations is given as:

S=

x2
N 1

When you use this formula, you are actually correcting the sample standard deviation for bias. The
sample standard deviation tends to be smaller than the population standard deviation. The equation for the
population standard deviation is:

x2
S=
N

POPULATION STANDARD DEVIATION

The standard deviation for grouped or population data formula is:

S=

fM 2 2
X
N

Where

S = the standard deviation

f = the frequency for every class interval
M = the center score or midpoint for every class interval
N = the total frequency of scores

X 2 = the mean that is squared

Example: Solve for the standard deviation of the following distributions of scores.
Class interval
70 74
65 69
60 64
55 59
50 54
45 49
40 44
35 39
30 34

F
2
4
5
7
8
7
6
3
2
N = 44

Solution:
Class Interval
70 74
65 69
60 64
55 59
50 54
45 49
40 44
35 39
30 34

S=

fM 2 2
X
N

f
2
4
5
7
8
7
6
3
2
N = 44

M
72
67
62
57
52
47
42
37
32

S=

fM
144
268
310
399
416
329
252
111
64
fM = 2293

M2
5184
4489
3844
3249
2704
2209
1764
1369
1024

fM2
10368
17954
19220
22743
21632
15463
10584
4107
2048
2
fM = 124121

124121
52.11 S= 2820.93182715. 4521
44

S= 105.4797=10.2703310.27

A standard deviation helps you picture out a normal curve. When your data takes the shape of a normal
curve, the standard deviation units measured off along the baseline starting from the mean always cut off
certain proportions of the area under the curve. In the problem with the mean 52.11 is recorded at the center of
the curve. Then 1 standard deviation unit is added to this mean, 52.11 + 10.27 resulting in a score of 62.38.
Similarly, 1 standard deviation is measured off the other side resulting in a score of 41.84. This means that a
standard deviation of 10.27 is this case shows that the middle 68% (34% on each side) of the cases scored
within 41.84 to 62.38.
In a normal curve, between plus and minus, one standard deviation are included approximately 68 of
the area. If you measure off 2 standard deviation units on each side of the mean, you included between these
two points approximately 95 percent of the area. And when you take 3 standard deviation units to the left and
the right of the mean, over 99 percent of the area of the curve are included.

The bell curve which represents a normal distribution of data shows what standard deviation
represents.
One standard deviation away from the mean () in either direction on the horizontal axis accounts for
around 68 percent of the data. Two standard deviations away from the mean accounts for roughly 95 percent
of the data with three standard deviations representing about 99 percent of the data.
EXERCISES
A. Sample Standard Deviation
B. Compute for the standard deviation of the
following set of score.
C.
E.
G.
I.
K.
M.
O.
Q.
S.
U.
W.
Y.
AA.
AC.
AE.
AG.
AI.
AJ.

score
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

AK.Population Standard Deviation

AL. Computer for the standard deviation of the
following:

D.
f
F.
8
H.
7
J.
9
L.
14
N.
23
P.
29
R.
30
T.
35
V.
31
X.
27
Z.
23
AB.
17
AD.
11
AF.
6
AH.
N = 270

AM.
4
AR.
4
AW.
0
BB.
2
BG.
9
BL.
7
BQ.
0
BV.
9
CA.
7
CF.

9 AN.
8
9 AS.
4
7 AX.
4
6 BC.
2
6 BH.
9
4 BM.
6
6 BR.
2
8 BW.
0
7 CB.
9
9 CG.

7 AO.
0
8 AT.
7
5 AY.
3
6 BD.
4
9 BI.
3
5 BN.
5
6 BS.
01
8 BX.
9
7 CC.
3
5 CH.

9 AP.
3
6 AU.
0
9 AZ.
2
5 BE.
3
7 BJ.
4
6 BO.
3
1 BT.
4
6 BY.
0
6 CD.
8
5 CI.

8 AQ.
00
5 AV.
1
5 BA.
7
5 BF.
1
7 BK.
5
6 BP.
1
7 BU.
9
7 BZ.
9
5 CE.
1
9 CJ.

1
9
9
7
9
6
7
9
9
4

CK.