The standard deviation formula may look confusing, but it will make sense after we break it down. In the coming sections, we'll walk through a step-by-step interactive example.

The formula we use for standard deviation depends on whether the data is being considered a population of its own, or the data is a sample representing a larger population.

A standard deviation close to 0 indicates that the data points tend to be close to the mean (shown by the dotted line). The further the data points are from the mean, the greater the standard …

Standard deviation measures how far apart numbers are in a data set. Variance, on the other hand, gives an actual value to how much the numbers in a data set vary from the mean.

Standard deviation involves adding and subtracting values at various steps in the calculation process. For example, the differences between each data point and the mean are calculated, …

Practice calculating and interpreting the mean and standard deviation of a discrete random variable.

Standard Deviation is used to show the variation of the dataset because it provides a measure of how much the data points deviate from the mean, taking into account both the direction and …

The formula we use for standard deviation depends on whether the data is being considered a population of its own, or the data is a sample representing a larger population.

Practice calculating sample standard deviationWelcome to Khan Academy! So we can give you the right tools, let us know if you're a...

The z-score could be applied to any standard distribution or data set. It definition only depends on the (arithmetic) mean and standard deviation, and no other qualitative properties of the nature …