Standard deviation measure how consist a set of data is. The smaller the standard deviation the more consistent the data is.
How to Calculate Standard Deviation in a Graphing Calculator
Example of Standard Deviation
Consider, for example, two sets of test scores. Class A's scores and class B's scores on a test on statistics. Below is a table showing both of the sets of scores
| Class A's Scores | Class B 's Scores |
|---|---|
| 80, 80, 80, 80, 80 | 20, 100, 20, 100 |
Both class A and class B have exactly the same arithmetic mean but clearly the mean of these scores does not represent who much each individual score deviates from this average of 80. Enter standard deviation. Standard deviation is the most common measure of how much individual scores vary from the actual mean. Class A has a standard deviation of 0. Class B, on the hand, has a much larger standard deviation.
