STANDARD DEVIATION

Introduction

The standard deviation is a measure of the spread of scores within a set of data. Usually, we
are interested in the standard deviation of a population. However, as we are often presented
with data from a sample only, we can estimate the population standard deviation from a
sample standard deviation. These two standard deviations - sample and population standard
deviations - are calculated differently. In statistics, we are usually presented with having to
calculate sample standard deviations, and so this is what this article will focus on, although
the formula for a population standard deviation will also be shown.

This statistical measurement of dispersion about an average, depicts how widely a mutual
fund's returns varied over a certain period of time. Investors use the standard deviation of
historical performance to try to predict the range of returns that are most likely for a given
fund. When a fund has a high standard deviation, the predicted range of performance is wide,
implying greater volatility.

Standard deviation is most appropriate for measuring the risk a fund that is an investor's only
holding. The figure cannot be combined for more than one fund because the standard
deviation for a portfolio of multiple funds is a function of not only the individual standard
deviations, but also of the degree of correlation among the funds' returns.

If a fund's returns follow a normal distribution, then approximately 68% of the time they will
fall within one standard deviation of the mean return for the fund, and 95% of the time within
two standard deviations.

What is 'Standard Deviation'

Standard deviation is a measure of the dispersion of a set of data from its mean. The more
spread apart the data, the higher the deviation. Standard deviation is calculated as the square
root of variance.
In finance, standard deviation is applied to the annual rate of returnof an investment to
measure the investment's volatility. Standard deviation is also known as historical
volatility and is used by investors as a gauge for the amount of expected volatility.

Definitions for standard deviation:

Noun

 A measure of dispersion obtained by extracting the squareroot of the mean of the squared de
viations of the observed values fromtheir mean in a frequency distribution.

A parameter that indicates the way in which a probability function or a probability

density function is centered on its mean and that is equal to the square root of the
moment in which the deviation from the mean is squared.

Medicine

Symbol σ 
A statistic used as a measure of the dispersion or variation in a distribution,equal to the squar
e root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of thedeviations from the arithmetic mean.
Science

A statistic used as a measure of the dispersion or variation in a distribution,equal to the squar
e root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of thedeviations from the arithmetic mean. 

Culture

In statistics, a measure of how much the data in a certain collection arescattered around the m
ean. A low standard deviation means that the dataare tightly clustered; a high standard deviati
on means that they are widelyscattered.
Technology

A measure of the range of values in a set of numbers. Standarddeviation is a statistic used as 
a measure of the dispersion or variation in adistribution, equal to the square root of the arithm
etic mean of the squaresof the deviations from the arithmetic mean.

Standard deviation

In statistics, the standard deviation (SD, also represented by the Greek letter sigma σ or s) is a

measure that is used to quantify the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of data
values. A low standard deviation indicates that the data points tend to be close to
the mean (also called the expected value) of the set, while a high standard deviation indicates
that the data points are spread out over a wider range of values.
The standard deviation of a random variable, statistical population, data set, or probability
distribution is the square rootof its variance. It is algebraically simpler, though in practice
less robust, than the average absolute deviation. A useful property of the standard deviation is
that, unlike the variance, it is expressed in the same units as the data. There are also other
measures of deviation from the norm, including mean absolute deviation, which provide
different mathematical properties from standard deviation.

In addition to expressing the variability of a population, the standard deviation is commonly

used to measure confidence in statistical conclusions. For example, the margin of
error in polling data is determined by calculating the expected standard deviation in the
results if the same poll were to be conducted multiple times. This derivation of a standard
deviation is often called the "standard error" of the estimate or "standard error of the mean"
when referring to a mean. It is computed as the standard deviation of all the means that would
be computed from that population if an infinite number of samples were drawn and a mean
for each sample were computed. It is very important to note that the standard deviation of a
population and the standard error of a statistic derived from that population (such as the
mean) are quite different but related (related by the inverse of the square root of the number
of observations).

The reported margin of error of a poll is computed from the standard error of the mean (or
alternatively from the product of the standard deviation of the population and the inverse of
the square root of the sample size, which is the same thing) and is typically about twice the
standard deviation—the half-width of a 95 percent confidence interval. In science,
researchers commonlyreport the standard deviation of experimental data, and only effects that
fall much farther than two standard deviations away from what would have been expected are
considered statistically significant—normal random error or variation in the measurements is
in this way distinguished from causal variation. The standard deviation is also important in
finance, where the standard deviation on the rate of returnon an investment is a measure of
the volatility of the investment.

When only a sample of data from a population is available, the term standard deviation of the
sample or sample standard deviation can refer to either the above-mentioned quantity as
applied to those data or to a modified quantity that is a better estimate of the population
standard deviation (the standard deviation of the entire population)

The square root of the sample variance of a set of   values is the sample standard deviation
The sample standard deviation distribution is a slightly complicated, though well-studied and
well-understood, function.

However, consistent with widespread inconsistent and ambiguous terminology, the square
root of the bias-corrected variance is sometimes also known as the standard deviation,

The standard deviation   of a list of data is implemented as Standard deviation.

Physical scientists often use the term root-mean-square as a synonym for standard deviation
when they refer to the square root of the mean squared deviation of a quantity from a given
baseline.

The standard deviation arises naturally in mathematical statistics through its definition in
terms of the second central moment. However, a more natural but much less frequently
encountered measure of average deviation from the mean that is used in descriptive statistics
is the so-called mean deviation.

Advantages:

 Lends itself to computation of other stable measures (and is a prerequisite for many
ofthem).
 Average of deviations around the mean
 Majority of data within one standarddeviation above or below the mean.
 Not expressed in squared units, so makesmore sense descriptively.
 Shows how much data is clustered around a mean value
 It gives a more accurate idea of how the data is distributed
 Not as affected by extreme values
 The standard deviation is the best measure of variation because of its mathematical
characteristics. It is based on every item of the distribution. Also it is amenable to
 algebraic treatment and is less affected by fluctuations of sampling than most other
measures of dispersion.
 It is possible to calculate the combined standard deviation of two or more groups.
This is not possible with any other measure.
 For comparing the variability of two or more distribution coefficient of variation is
considered to be most appropriate and this is based on mean standard deviation.
 Standard deviation is most prominently used in further statistical work. For example,
in computing skewness, correlation, etc., use is made of standard deviation. It is
keynote in sampling and provides a unit of measurement for the normal distribution.
 It is rigidly defined and its value is always definite and based on all the
observationsand the actual signs of deviations are used.
 As it is based on arithmetic mean, it has all the merits of arithmetic mean.
 It is the most important and widely used measure of dispersion.
 It is possible for further algebraic treatment.
 It is less affected by the fluctuations of sampling and hence stable.
 It is the basis for measuring the coefficient of correlation and sampling.

Demerits
 As compared to other measures it is difficult to compute. However, it does not reduce
the importance of this measure because of high degree of accuracy of results it gives.

 It gives more weight to extreme items and less to those which are near the mean. It is
because of the fact that the squares of the deviations which are big in size would be
proportionately greater than the squares of those deviations which are comparatively
small. The deviations 2 and 8 are in the ratio of 1:4 but their squares, i.e., 4 and 64
would be in the ratio of 1:16.
 It is not easy to understand and it is difficult to calculate.1.
 It gives more weight to extreme values because the values are squared up.
 As it is an absolute measure of variability, it cannot be used for the purpose
ofcomparison.
Uses:

 Despite the drawbacks mentioned above the standard deviation is the best measure of
dispersion and should be used wherever possible.

 Just as mean is the best measure of central tendency (leaving exceptional cases)
standard deviation is the best measure of dispersion, excepting a few cases where
mean deviation or quartile deviation may give better results

 However since standard deviation gives greater weight to extreme items, it does not
find much favor with economists and businessmen who are more interested in the
results of the model class.
 The first thing to note about absolute deviation is that it does not rank distances at all.
Suppose that we have two observations, where one observation is 1 unit away from
the mean, while the other is 3 units from the mean. Absolute deviation says that this is
the same amount of dispersion as having both observations be 2 units away from the
mean. That's fishy--3 units deviation is further from the mean than 2 units of
deviation, yet mean absolute deviation is telling us that these two distributions have
the same amount of dispersion. However, standard deviation actually gives greater
weight to larger deviations than smaller ones, so the standard deviation tells us,
correctly, that actually the former distribution is more spread out.

Computer usage

Excel provides almost a dozen statistical functions for calculating standard deviations and
variances. A standard deviation describes dispersion (spread of data) about (around) the data
set’s mean.

1. Open MS Excel worksheet from MS Office programs

2. Click on cells (columns) and enter data following the cells
3. Mean and the total number of values are entered
4. Select “FORMULA” bar and drop down box will appear and select the statistical
option
5. STATISTICAL drop down box will appear and click SD.
 6. SD dialog box select the data entered in the cells click OK and result will appear.

STDEV: Standard deviation of a sample

 The STDEV function calculates the standard deviation of a sample, a measure of how
widely values in a data set vary around the mean — and a common input to other
statistical calculations. The function uses the syntax=STDEV(number1,[number2])
  To calculate the standard deviation of the worksheet range A1:A5 using the STDEV
function, for example, use the formula=STDEV(A1:A5)
 If the worksheet range holds the values 1, 4, 8, 9 and 11, the function returns the
standard deviation value 4.037326.
 The STDEV function lets you include up to 255 arguments as inputs; those arguments
can be values, cell references, formulas, and range references. The STDEV function
ignores logical values, text, and empty cells.

STDEVA: Alternate standard deviation of a sample

 The STDEVA function calculates the standard deviation of a sample, but unlike the
STDEV function, STDEVA doesn’t ignore the logical values TRUE(which is 1)
and FALSE (which is 0). The function uses the syntax

=STDEVA(number1,[number2])

 STDEVA arguments, which can number up to 255, can be values, cell references,
formulas, and range references.

STDEVP: Standard deviation of a population

 The STDEVP function calculates the standard deviation of a population to measure

how widely values vary around the mean. The function uses the syntax

=STDEVP(number1,[number2])
 To calculate the standard deviation of the worksheet range A1:A5 using the STDEVP
function, for example, use the formula

=STDEVP(A1:A5)

 If the worksheet range holds the values 1, 4, 8, 9 and 11, the function returns the
standard deviation value 3.611094.
 The STDEVP function lets you include up to 255 arguments as inputs; the arguments
can be values, cell references, formulas, and range references. The STDEV function
ignores logical values, text, and empty cells.

STDEVPA: Alternate standard deviation of a population

  The STDEVPA function calculates the standard deviation of a population, but unlike
the STDEVP function, STDEVPA doesn’t ignore the logical values TRUE (which
is 1) and FALSE (which is 0). The function uses the syntax

=STDEVPA(number1,[number2])
 These all are the key words used in excel sheet to calculate standard deviation.

For Example

1. Click on cell D12 to make it the active cell - the location where the results for the
STDEV function will be displayed
2. Click on the Formulas tab.
3. Choose More Functions > Statistical from the ribbon to open the function drop down
list.
4. Click on STDEV in the list to bring up the function's dialog box.
 5. Highlight cells  A5 to D7 in the worksheet to enter the range into the dialog box as
theNumber argument
6. Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the worksheet
7. The answer 2.37 should present in cell D12.
8. This number represents the estimated standard deviation of each number in the list
from the average value of 4.5
9. When you click on cell E8 the complete function =STDEV(A5:D7) appears in
the formula bar above the worksheet
10. After you have made your selections, click on OK at the bottom of the dialog box.

Articles :

1. Douglas G Altman&J Martin Bland  professor of health statistics Jun 3 ,2007

Standard deviations and standard errors .

2. Michael Sholty, Contributor Jul 28, 2009 Fantasy Football: Using Standard Deviation

to Your Advantage .

3. Robert Niles Feb 16 , 2003 Standard Deviation

4. BardeMP,Barde PJ July 3, 2012 What to use to express the variability of data:

Standard deviation.

5. Deborah J. Rumsey from Statistics For Dummies, 2nd EditionJanuary 31, 2013 How

to Interpret Standard Deviation and Standard Error in Survey Research.

6. Barlow, Kathleen. 1994–2007. Standard Deviation. In The Encyclopedia of

Educational Technology,ed. Bob Hoffman.

7. Amy Tenderich  December 20, 201 The Mixed-Up Role of Standard Deviation in

Diabetes Care.
 8. Ask Matt Oct 10 ,2008 Why is standard deviation used by some investors to measure
risk.

9. Andy Kiersz Dec 2 ,2014 Here's What Statisticians Mean By A Standard Deviation.

10. Hunkar Ozyasar Demand Media April 4,2015Rate of Return & Standard Deviation in
small business .

ARTICLE-1

BardeMP,Barde PJ July 3, 2012 What to use to express the variability of data: Standard
deviation.

The terms “standard error” and “standard deviation” are often confused. The contrast between
these two terms reflects the important distinction between data description and inference, one
that all researchers should appreciate.

The standard deviation (often SD) is a measure of variability. When we calculate the standard
deviation of a sample, we are using it as an estimate of the variability of the population from
which the sample was drawn. For data with a normal distribution,about 95% of individuals
will have values within 2 standard deviations of the mean, the other 5% being equally
scattered above and below these limits. Contrary to popular misconception, the standard
deviation is a valid measure of variability regardless of the distribution. About 95% of
observations of any distribution usually fall within the 2 standard deviation limits, though
those outside may all be at one end. We may choose a different summary statistic, however,
when data have a skewed distribution.

When we calculate the sample mean we are usually interested not in the mean of this
particular sample, but in the mean for individuals of this type in statistical terms, of the
population from which the sample comes. We usually collect data in order to generalise from
them and so use the sample mean as an estimate of the mean for the whole population. Now
the sample mean will vary from sample to sample; the way this variation occurs is described
by the “sampling distribution” of the mean. We can estimate how much sample means will
vary from the standard deviation of this sampling distribution, which we call the standard
error (SE) of the estimate of the mean. As the standard error is a type of standard deviation,
confusion is understandable. Another way of considering the standard error is as a measure of
the precision of the sample mean.

The standard error of the sample mean depends on both the standard deviation and the sample
size, by the simple relation SE = SD/√(sample size). The standard error falls as the sample
size increases, as the extent of chance variation is reduced—this idea underlies the sample
size calculation for a controlled trial, for example. By contrast the standard deviation will not
tend to change as we increase the size of our sample.

So, if we want to say how widely scattered some measurements are, we use the standard
deviation. If we want to indicate the uncertainty around the estimate of the mean
measurement, we quote the standard error of the mean. The standard error is most useful as a
means of calculating a confidence interval. For a large sample, a 95% confidence interval is
obtained as the values 1.96×SE either side of the mean. We will discuss confidence intervals
in more detail in a subsequent Statistics Note. The standard error is also used to calculate P
values in many circumstances.

The principle of a sampling distribution applies to other quantities that we may estimate from
a sample, such as a proportion or regression coefficient, and to contrasts between two
samples, such as a risk ratio or the difference between two means or proportions. All such
quantities have uncertainty due to sampling variation, and for all such estimates a standard
error can be calculated to indicate the degree of uncertainty.

In many publications a ± sign is used to join the standard deviation (SD) or standard error
(SE) to an observed mean—for example, 69.4±9.3 kg. That notation gives no indication
whether the second figure is the standard deviation or the standard error (or indeed something
else). A review of 88 articles published in 2002 found that 12 (14%) failed to identify which
measure of dispersion was reported (and three failed to report any measure of variability).The
policy of the BMJ and many other journals is to remove ± signs and request authors to
indicate clearly whether the standard deviation or standard error is being quoted. All journals
should follow this practice.

ARTICLE-2
Deborah J. Rumsey from Statistics For Dummies, 2nd EditionJanuary 31, 2013 How

to Interpret Standard Deviation and Standard Error in Survey Research.

Standard deviation can be difficult to interpret as a single number on its own. Basically, a
small standard deviation means that the values in a statistical data set are close to the mean of
the data set, on average, and a large standard deviation means that the values in the data set
are farther away from the mean, on average.

The standard deviation measures how concentrated the data are around the mean; the more
concentrated, the smaller the standard deviation.

A small standard deviation can be a goal in certain situations where the results are restricted,
for example, in product manufacturing and quality control.

A particular type of car part that has to be 2 centimeters in diameter to fit properly had better
not have a very big standard deviation during the manufacturing process.

A big standard deviation in this case would mean that lots of parts end up in the trash because
they don’t fit right; either that or the cars will have problems down the road.

But in situations where you just observe and record data, a large standard deviation isn’t
necessarily a bad thing; it just reflects a large amount of variation in the group that is being
studied.

For example, if you look at salaries for everyone in a certain company, including everyone
from the student intern to the CEO, the standard deviation may be very large.

On the other hand, if you narrow the group down by looking only at the student interns, the
standard deviation is smaller, because the individuals within this group have salaries that are
less variable. The second data set isn’t better, it’s just less variable.

Similar to the mean, outliers affect the standard deviation (after all, the formula for standard
deviation includes the mean). Here’s an example: the salaries of the L.A. Lakers in the 2009–
2010 season range from the highest, $23,034,375 (Kobe Bryant) down to $959,111 (Didier
Ilunga-Mbenga and Josh Powell).

Lots of variation, to be sure! The standard deviation of the salaries for this team turns out to
be $6,567,405; it’s almost as large as the average. However, as you may guess, if you remove
Kobe Bryant’s salary from the data set, the standard deviation decreases because the
remaining salaries are more concentrated around the mean. The standard deviation becomes
$4,671,508

Here are some properties that can help you when interpreting a standard deviation:

 The standard deviation can never be a negative number, due to the way it’s calculated
and the fact that it measures a distance (distances are never negative numbers).

 The smallest possible value for the standard deviation is 0, and that happens only in
contrived situations where every single number in the data set is exactly the same (no
deviation).

 The standard deviation is affected by outliers (extremely low or extremely high

numbers in the data set). That’s because the standard deviation is based on the
distance from the mean. And remember, the mean is also affected by outliers.

 The standard deviation has the same units as the original data.

ARTICLE 3:

1. Robert Niles Feb 16 , 2003 Standard Deviation

Standard deviation is a more difficult concept than the others we've covered. And unless you
are writing for a specialized, professional audience, you'll probably never use the words
"standard deviation" in a story. But that doesn't mean you should ignore this concept.

The standard deviation is kind of the "mean of the mean," and often can help you find the
story behind the data. To understand this concept, it can help to learn about what statisticians
call "normal distribution" of data.

A normal distribution of data means that most of the examples in a set of data are close to the
"average," while relatively few examples tend to one extreme or the other.

Let's say you are writing a story about nutrition. You need to look at people's typical daily
calorie consumption. Like most data, the numbers for people's typical consumption probably
will turn out to be normally distributed. That is, for most people, their consumption will be
close to the mean, while fewer people eat a lot more or a lot less than the mean.

When you think about it, that's just common sense. Not that many people are getting by on a
single serving of kelp and rice. Or on eight meals of steak and milkshakes. Most people lie
somewhere in between.

If you looked at normally distributed data on a graph, it would look something like this:
The x-axis (the horizontal one) is the value in question... calories consumed, dollars earned or
crimes committed, for example. And the y-axis (the vertical one) is the number of datapoints
for each value on the x-axis... in other words, the number of people who eat xcalories, the
number of households that earn x dollars, or the number of cities with x crimes committed.

Now, not all sets of data will have graphs that look this perfect. Some will have relatively flat
curves, others will be pretty steep. Sometimes the mean will lean a little bit to one side or the
other. But all normally distributed data will have something like this same "bell curve" shape.

The standard deviation is a statistic that tells you how tightly all the various examples are
clustered around the mean in a set of data. When the examples are pretty tightly bunched
together and the bell-shaped curve is steep, the standard deviation is small. When the
examples are spread apart and the bell curve is relatively flat, that tells you you have a
relatively large standard deviation.

Computing the value of a standard deviation is complicated. But let me show you graphically
what a standard deviation represents...

One standard deviation away from the mean in either direction on the horizontal axis (the two
shaded areas closest to the center axis on the above graph) accounts for somewhere around 68
percent of the people in this group. Two standard deviations away from the mean (the four
areas closest to the center areas) account for roughly 95 percent of the people. And three
standard deviations (all the shaded areas) account for about 99 percent of the people.
If this curve were flatter and more spread out, the standard deviation would have to be larger
in order to account for those 68 percent or so of the people. So that's why the standard
deviation can tell you how spread out the examples in a set are from the mean.

Why is this useful? Here's an example: If you are comparing test scores for different schools,
the standard deviation will tell you how diverse the test scores are for each school.

Let's say Springfield Elementary has a higher mean test score than Shelbyville Elementary.
Your first reaction might be to say that the kids at Springfield are smarter.

But a bigger standard deviation for one school tells you that there are relatively more kids at
that school scoring toward one extreme or the other. By asking a few follow-up questions you
might find that, say, Springfield's mean was skewed up because the school district sends all
of the gifted education kids to Springfield. Or that Shelbyville's scores were dragged down
because students who recently have been "mainstreamed" from special education classes have
all been sent to Shelbyville.

In this way, looking at the standard deviation can help point you in the right direction when
asking why information is the way it is.

Of course, you'll want to seek the advice of a trained statistician whenever you try to evaluate
the worth of any scientific research. But if you know at least a little about standard deviation
going in, that will make your talk with him or her much more productive.

Okay, because so many of you asked nicely...

Here is one formula for computing the standard deviation. A warning, this is for math geeks
only! Writers and others seeking only a basic understanding of stats don't need to read any
more in this chapter. Remember, a decent calculator or a stats program will calculate this for
you...

Terms you'll need to know

x = one value in your set of data
avg (x) = the mean (average) of all values x in your set of data
n = the number of values x in your set of data

For each value x, subtract the overall avg (x) from x, then multiply that result by itself
(otherwise known as determining the square of that value). Sum up all those squared values.
Then divide that result by (n-1). Got it? Then, there's one more step... find the square root of
that last number. That's the standard deviation of your set of data.

Now, remember how I told you this was one way of computing this? Sometimes, you divide
by (n) instead of (n-1). It's too complex to explain here. So don't try to go figuring out a
standard deviation if you just learned about it on this page. Just be satisfied that you've now
got a grasp on the basic concept.

The more practical way to compute it...

In Microsoft Excel, type the following code into the cell where you want the Standard
Deviation result, using the "unbiased," or "n-1" method:
=STDEV(A1:Z99) (substitute the cell name of the first value in your dataset for A1, and the
cell name of the last value for Z99.)

Or, use...

=STDEVP(A1:Z99) if you want to use the "biased" or "n" method.

ARTICLE 4:

DataStar, Inc , Posted January 31, 2013 How to Interpret Standard Deviation and Standard
Error in Survey Research:

Standard Deviation and Standard Error are perhaps the two least understood statistics
commonly shown in data tables. The
following article is intended to explain their meaning and provide additional insight on how
they are used in data analysis.
Standard Deviation and Standard Error are perhaps the two least understood statistics
commonly shown in data tables. The following article is
intended to explain their meaning and provide additional insight on how they are used in data
analysis. Both statistics are typically shown with
the mean of a variable, and in a sense, they both speak about the mean. They are often
referred to as the "standard deviation of the mean" and
the "standard error of the mean." However, they are not interchangeable and represent very
di᯿అ erent concepts.
Standard Deviation
Standard Deviation (often abbreviated as "Std Dev" or "SD") provides an indication of how
far the individual responses to a question vary or
"deviate" from the mean. SD tells the researcher how spread out the responses are -- are they
concentrated around the mean, or scattered far
& wide? Did all of your respondents rate your product in the middle of your scale, or did
some love it and some hate it?
Let's say you've asked respondents to rate your product on a series of attributes on a 5-point
scale. The mean for a group of ten respondents
(labeled 'A' through 'J' below) for "good value for the money" was 3.2 with a SD of 0.4 and
the mean for "product reliability" was 3.4 with a SD of
2.1. At 1 rst glance (looking at the means only) it would seem that reliability was rated higher
than value. But the higher SD for reliability could
indicate (as shown in the distribution below) that responses were very polarized, where most
respondents had no reliability issues (rated the
attribute a "5"), but a smaller, but important segment of respondents, had a reliability problem
and rated the attribute "1". Looking at the mean
alone tells only part of the story, yet all too often, this is what researchers focus on. The
distribution of responses is important to consider and the
SD provides a valuable descriptive measure of this.

Good Value Product

Respondent: for the Money: Reliability:

A 3 1
 B 3 1
C 3 1
D 3 1
E 4 5
F 4 5
G 3 5
H 3 5
I 3 5
J 3 5
Mean 3.2 3.4
Std Dev 0.4 2.1

Two very different distributions of responses to a 5-point rating scale can yield the same
mean. Consider the following example showing
response values for two different ratings. In the 1rst example (Rating "A") the Standard
Deviation is zero because ALL responses were exactly the
mean value. The individual responses did not deviate at all from the mean. In Rating "B",
even though the group mean is the same (3.0) as the
1rst distribution, the Standard Deviation is higher. The Standard Deviation of 1.15 shows that
the individual responses, on average, were a little
over 1 point away from the mean.

Respondent: Rating "A" Rating "B"

A 3 1
B 3 2
C 3 2
D 3 3
E 3 3
F 3 3
G 3 3
H 3 4
I 3 4
J 3 5
Mean 3.0 3.0
Std Dev 0.00 1.15

Another way of looking at Standard Deviation is by plotting the distribution as a histogram of

responses. A distribution with a low SD would
display as a tall narrow shape, while a large SD would be indicated by a wider shape.
SD generally does not indicate "right or wrong" or "better or worse" -- a lower SD is not
necessarily more desireable. It is used purely as a
descriptive statistic. It describes the distribution in relation to the mean.
Technical disclaimer: thinking of the Standard Deviation as an "average deviation" is an
excellent way of conceptionally understanding its
meaning. However, it is not actually calculated as an average (if it were, we would call it the
"average deviation"). Instead, it is "standardized," a
somewhat complex method of computing the value using the sum of the squares. For
practical purposes, the computation is not important. Most
tabulation programs, spreadsheets or other data management tools will calculate the SD for
you. More important is to understand what the
statistics convey.
Standard Error
The Standard Error ("Std Err" or "SE"), is an indication of the reliability of the mean. A small
SE is an indication that the sample mean is a more
accurate of the actual population mean. A larger sample size will normally result in a smaller
SE (while SD is not directly affected by
sample size).
Most survey research involves drawing a sample from a population. We then make inferences
about the population from the results obtained
from that sample. If a second sample was drawn, the results probably won't exactly match the
1rst sample. If the mean value for a rating
attribute was 3.2 for one sample, it might be 3.4 for a second sample of the same size. If we
were to draw an infinite number of samples (of equal
size) from our population, we could display the observed means as a distribution. We could
then calculate an average of all of our sample means.
This mean would equal the true population mean. We can also calculate the Standard
Deviation of the distribution of sample means. The
Standard Deviation of this distribution of sample means is the Standard Error of each
individual sample mean. Put another way, Standard Error
is the Standard Deviation of the population mean.

Sample: Mean
1st 3.2
2nd 3.4
3rd 3.3
4th 3.2
5th 3.1
Mean 3.3
Std Dev 0.13

Think about this. If the SD of this distribution helps us to understand how far a sample mean
is from the true population mean, then we can use
this to understand how accurate any individual sample mean is in relation to the true mean.
That is the essence of the Standard Error. In actuality
we have only drawn a single sample from our population, but we can use this result to
provide an estimate of the reliability of our observed
sample mean.
In fact, SE tells us that we can be 95% condent that our observed sample mean is plus or
minus roughly 2 (actually 1.96) Standard Errors from
the population mean.
The below table shows the distribution of responses from our 1rst (and only) sample used for
our research. The SE of 0.13, being relatively small,
gives us an indication that our mean is relatively close to the true mean of our overall
population. The margin of error (at 95% condence) for our
mean is (roughly) twice that value (+/- 0.26), telling us that the true mean is most likely
between 2.94 and 3.46.

Respondent: Rating:
 A 3
B 3
C 3
D 3
E 4
F 4
G 3
H 3
I 3
J 3
Mean 3.2
Std Err 0.13

Summary
Many researchers fail to understand the distinction between Standard Deviation and Standard
Error, even though they are commonly included in
data analysis. While the actual calculations for Standard Deviation and Standard Error look
very similar, they represent two very different, but
complementary, measures. SD tells us about the shape of our distribution, how close the
individual data values are from the mean value. SE tells
us how close our sample mean is to the true mean of the overall population. Together, they
help to provide a more complete picture than the
mean alone can tell us.

References :

https://getrevising.co.uk/grids/standarddeviation

Accessed on 23th March 2016

http://www.stretchgo.com/standard-deviation-definition-advantages-and-disadvantages-and-
its-alternatives.html

Accessed on 27th March 2016

http://www.transtutors.com/homework-help/statistics/measures-of-dispersion/features-
standard-deviation.aspx

Accessed on 1st April 2016

https://statistics.laerd.com/statistical-guides/measures-of-spread-standard-deviation.php

Accessed on 1st April 2016

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_deviation
 Accessed on 1st April 2016

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3487226

Accessed on 2nd April 2016

http://spreadsheets.about.com/od/excelstatisticalfunctions/ss/excel-2007-stdev-function.htm
accessed on 2nd April 2016