Practice Standard Deviation in Statistics
Use these practice problems to test your method after reviewing the concept explanation and worked examples.
Quick Recap
Standard deviation is a measure of how spread out data values are from the mean, representing the typical distance of data points from the average. A small standard deviation means data clusters tightly around the mean; a large one means data is widely spread.
If the mean is 'home base,' standard deviation tells you how far data points typically wander from home. Small SD = data clusters close to the mean (like a tight group of friends). Large SD = data is scattered (friends spread all over town).
Example 1
mediumCalculate the population standard deviation of: 4, 8, 6, 2, 10.
Example 2
hardDataset A: {5, 5, 5, 5}. Dataset B: {2, 4, 6, 8}. Without full calculation, which has a larger standard deviation and why?
Example 3
mediumCalculate the population standard deviation of: 10, 12, 14.
Example 4
mediumCalculate the population standard deviation of the data set: 3, 3, 7, 7.