What does the standard deviation measure?

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Multiple Choice

What does the standard deviation measure?

Explanation:
Standard deviation measures how spread out the data are around the mean. When most values cluster near the mean, it’s small; when values vary a lot from the mean, it’s large. It’s calculated by averaging the squared deviations from the mean and then taking the square root, so it reflects variability across the entire dataset and is sensitive to outliers. This differs from central tendency, which tells you the location of the center (like the mean), from the range, which only uses the min and max, and from skewness, which describes asymmetry of the distribution.

Standard deviation measures how spread out the data are around the mean. When most values cluster near the mean, it’s small; when values vary a lot from the mean, it’s large. It’s calculated by averaging the squared deviations from the mean and then taking the square root, so it reflects variability across the entire dataset and is sensitive to outliers. This differs from central tendency, which tells you the location of the center (like the mean), from the range, which only uses the min and max, and from skewness, which describes asymmetry of the distribution.

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