STANDARD

DEVIATION
• Standard deviation is a measure of central
tendency. Central tendency refers to the
quantity that tells us as to by how much are
the data entries away from the mean of the
data set.

• It is the positive square root of the arithmetic

mean of the squared deviations from the mean
of the distribution. It is considered as the most
reliable measure of variability. It is the square
root of the Variance.
• SD is a Bell Shaped Curve in a
graph of normal distribution
illustrates how much deviation or
spread occurred or can be occurred
from the expected value or mean of
data set.
The formula

where ∑-“sum of”
x- is a value in the data set
μ- mean of the data set
n- number of data points in
the population
 
Example 1
6,2,3,1
 Step 1: Find the mean.
 
μ= 6+2+3+1=12=3
4 4
Step 2 -For each data point, find the square of its distance to
the mean.
Data Distance from the mean
point x squared (x−μ)2
6 ∣6−3∣2=32=9
2 2−3∣2=12=1
3 ∣3−3∣2=02=0
1 1−3∣2=-22=4
Step 3: Sum the values from Step 2.
Add up all of the squared distances from the data points to
the mean from Step 2
∑∣x−μ∣2=9+1+0+4=14

Step 4: Divide by the number of data points.

 
Divide the sum from Step 3 by the number of data points 
(N=4)
∑∣x−μ∣2=14=3.5
N 4
Step 5: Take the square root.
 
Take the square root of the number we found in Step 4:
√∑∣x−μ∣2=14=√3.5≈1.87
N 4
The standard deviation is 1.87
Example:
Using our set of data based on the grades of student.
86 75 76 82 91

X (X – μ) (X – μ)
86 4 16
75 -7 49
76 -6 36
82 0 0
91 9 81

X=410 (X – μ) = 182
• Solving using this formula:

= 182
5

σ2 = 36.4
Standard Deviation
 
σ = √36.4
= 6.03
where ∑-“sum of”
F- Frequency
M- Mid point
n- number of samples
 
Example
In a class of students, 9 students scored 50 to 60, 7 students scored 61 to 70,
9 students scored 71 to 85, 12 students scored 86 to 95
and 8 students scored 96 to 100 in the subject of mathematics.
Estimate the standard deviation?
Rang
Frequency
e
50-
      9
60   
61-
      7
70   
71-
      9
85   
86-
      12
 
• Step 1: find the mid-point M for each group

(50 + 60)/2 = 55
(61 + 70)/2 = 65.5
(71 + 85)/2 = 78
(86 + 95)/2 = 90.5
(96 + 100)/2 = 98

The mid points are 55, 65.5, 78, 90.5 & 98 for the group
of students 50 to 60, 61 to 70, 71 to 85, 86 to 95 & 96 to
100 respectively
Step 2: calculate the number of samples n
n = 9 + 7 + 9 + 12 + 8
n = 45
 
Step 3: find the grouped data mean μ
μ = (55 x 9 + 65.5 x 7 + 78 x 9 + 90.5 x 12 +
98 x 8 )/n
= 3525.5/45
μ = 78.3444
 
• Step 4: find the variance σ2

= (((9 x 552) + (7 x 65.52) + (9 x 782) + (12 x 90.52) +

(8 x 982))
- (45 x 78.34442))/(45 - 1)
= (287127.75 - 276203.025)/ 44
σ2 = 248.2820
• Step 5: find standard deviation for the
grouped data
Take square root of variance
σ = 15.7569