STANDAR D DEVIATION

The absolute values were taken in mean deviation so that the deviations may not
cancel among themselves. Another way to overcome this problem which arose due
to the sign of deviations is to take squares of all the deviations.

The standard deviation is defined as the positive square root of the mean of the
square deviations taken from the arithmetic mean of the data.

The standard deviation plays a dominant role in the study of variations in data. It is
a very widely used measure of dispersion. It stands like a tower among measures of
dispersion. As far as important statistical tools are concerned, the most important
tool is the mean ̅ and the second most important tool is the standard deviation. It
is based on all the observations and is subject to mathematical treatment. It is of
great importance for the analysis of data and for various statistical inferences.

* It facilitates the calculation of combined standard deviation of two or more

groups.

(i) Ungrouped Data

 Direct Method

∑ ̅
Standard Deviation (σ)=√

N= Total number of Observations

xi = ith observation

̅ = Mean

Example

Find the standard deviation using direct method for the following data:

5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55

̅=∑ 6
∑ = 5+15+25+35+45+55 = 180

̅= = 30

∑ ̅
Standard Deviation (σ)=√

Marks ̅ ̅

5 -25 625

15 -15 225

25 -5 25

35 5 25

45 15 225

55 25 625

N=6 ∑ ̅ =1750

∑ ̅
(σ)=√ = (σ)=√ = 17.078

 Shortcut Method / Assumed Mean Method

∑ ∑
Standard Deviation (σ) =√

Where,

A = Assumed Mean

N= Total number of Observations

xi = ith observation

Example

Find the standard deviation using assumed mean method for the following data:

5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55.

Let A =25

Marks

5 -20 400

15 -10 100

25 0 0

35 10 100

45 20 400

55 30 900

N=6 ∑ = 30 ∑ =1900

∑ ∑
Standard Deviation (σ) =√

=√ =√ = 17.078

(ii) Discrete Frequency Distribution

 Direct Method
 ∑ ̅
Standard Deviation (σ)=√

N= Total number of Observations = ∑

xi = ith observation

fi = frequency of ith observation

̅ = Mean

Example

Marks 5 15 25 35 45 55
No. of
10 20 30 50 40 30
Students

Find the standard deviation.

Solution

∑ ̅
(σ)=√

First we need to find the mean

 Marks No. of Students fixi

(xi) (fi)

5 10 50

15 20 300

25 30 750

35 50 1750

45 40 1800

55 30 1650

∑ = 180 =N ∑ = 6300

∑
Mean = ̅ = = 6300 / 180 = 35

Marks No. of Students ̅ ̅ ̅

(xi) (fi)

5 10 -30 900 9000

15 20 -20 400 8000

25 30 -10 100 3000

35 50 0 0 0

45 40 10 100 4000

55 30 20 400 12000

∑ = 180 =N ∑ ̅ = 36000
 ∑ ̅
(σ)=√

=√ =√ = 14.142

 Shortcut Method / Assumed Mean Method

∑ ∑
Standard Deviation (σ) =√

Where,

A = Assumed Mean

N= Total number of Observations= ∑

xi = ith observation

fi = frequency of ith observation

Example

Marks 5 15 25 35 45 55
No. of
10 20 30 50 40 30
Students

Find the standard deviation.

Solution

Let A= 25 be the assumed Mean

∑ ∑
Standard Deviation (σ) =√
Marks No. of ( )
Students
(xi)
(fi)

5 10 -20 400 -200 4000

15 20 -10 100 -200 2000

25 30 0 0 0 0

35 50 10 100 500 5000

45 40 20 400 800 16000

55 30 30 900 900 27000

∑ = 180 =N ∑ = 1800 ∑ = 54000

∑ ∑
(σ) =√

=√ =√ =√ = 14.142

(iii) Continuous Frequency Distribution

 Direct Method

∑ ̅
Standard Deviation (σ) =√

Where,

A = Assumed Mean
 N= Total number of Observations= ∑

mi = class mark of ith observation

fi = frequency of ith observation

Example

Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60

No. of
10 20 30 50 40 30
Students

Find the standard deviation.

Marks No. of Students mi fimi

(fi)

0-10 10 5 50

10-20 20 15 300

20-30 30 25 750

30-40 50 35 1750

40-50 40 45 1800

50-60 30 55 1650

∑ = 180 =N ∑ = 6300

∑
Mean = ̅ = = 6300 / 180 = 35
Marks No. of mi ̅ ̅ ̅
Students

(fi)

0-10 10 5 -30 900 9000

10-20 20 15 -20 400 8000

20-30 30 25 -10 100 3000

30-40 50 35 0 0 0

40-50 40 45 10 100 4000

50-60 30 55 20 400 12000

∑ = 180 ∑ ̅
=N =36000

∑ ̅
(σ) =√ =√ =√ = 14.142

 Shortcut Method / Assumed Mean Method

∑ ∑
Standard Deviation (σ) =√

Where,

A = Assumed Mean

N= Total number of Observations= ∑

xi = ith observation

fi = frequency of ith observation

mi = class mark of ith observation

 Example

Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60

No. of
10 20 30 50 40 30
Students

Find the standard deviation.

Solution

Let A= 25

Marks No. of mi
Students

(fi)

0-10 10 5 -20 -200 400 4000

10-20 20 15 -10 -200 100 2000

20-30 30 25 0 0 0 0

30-40 50 35 10 500 100 5000

40-50 40 45 20 800 400 16000

50-60 30 55 30 900 900 27000

∑ = 180 ∑ ∑
=N = 1800 = 54000

∑ ∑
(σ) =√

=√ =√ =√ = 14.142
(iii) Step Deviation Method

∑ ∑
Standard Deviation (σ) =√ *h

Where,

A = Assumed Mean

N= Total number of Observations= ∑

mi = class mark of ith observation

fi = frequency of ith observation

h= class size

Example

Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60

No. of
10 20 30 50 40 30
Students

Find the standard deviation.

 Let A= 25

h=10
Marks No. of mi
Students

(fi)

0-10 10 5 -20 -2 4 -20 40

10-20 20 15 -10 -1 1 -20 20

20-30 30 25 0 0 0 0 0

30-40 50 35 10 1 1 50 50

40-50 40 45 20 2 4 80 160

50-60 30 55 30 3 9 90 270

∑ = ∑ =180 ∑ =540
180 =N

∑ ∑
(σ) =√ *h

=√ *10 = √ *10 = √ *10 = 1.4142*10 = 14.142

VARIANCE

It is the arithmetic mean of the squares of deviations of all the items of the
distributions from arithmetic mean.
It is the square of the standard deviation.

Variance = σ2
Or
σ=√
Smaller the value of variance ⟹ lesser variability
Larger the value of variance⟹ greater the variability.

Question (2019)

What is the difference between variance and standard deviation?

Coefficient of Standard Deviation/ Coefficient of Variation (C.V.)

For comparing the variability of two or more set of observations given in different
units, a coefficient of standard deviation or coefficient of variation is to be
calculated.

C.V.=

C.V.= ̅ *100

Lower the value of the C.V.⟹ the data set is more consisitent/
uniform/stable/homogeneous

Higher the value of the C.V.⟹ the data set is less consisitent/
uniform/stable/homogeneous

The most important of all the relative measures of dispersion is the

coefficient of variation.
Thus C.V is the value of S when ̅ is assumed equal to 100. It is a pure number
and the unit of observation is not mentioned with its value. It is written in
percentage form like 20% or 25%. When its value is 20%, it means that when the
mean of the observations is assumed equal to 100, their standard deviation will be
20. The C.V is used to compare the dispersion in different sets of data particularly
the data which differ in their means or differ in their units of measurement. The
wages of workers may be in dollars and the consumption of meat in families may
be in kilograms. The standard deviation of wages in dollars cannot be compared
with the standard deviation of amount of meat in kilograms. Both the standard
deviations need to be converted into a coefficient of variation for comparison.
Suppose the value of C.V for wages is 10% and the values of C.V. for kilograms of
meat are 25%. This means that the wages of workers are consistent. Their wages
are close to the overall average of their wages. But the families consume meat in
quite different quantities. Some families consume very small quantities of meat
and some others consume large quantities of meat. We say that there is greater
variation in their consumption of meat. The observations about the quantity of
meat are more dispersed or more variant.

Example

Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60

No. of
10 20 30 50 40 30
Students

Find the standard deviation, coefficient of Variation and Variance.

∑ ∑
S.D. = σ =√ *h = 14.142

Variance = σ2 = 200
̅ 35

C.V.= ̅ *100 = *100 = 40.4061%

Question

Calculate the Coefficient of Variation if Median= 23, mode= 29, variance= 100.

Solution
C.V.= ̅ *100

σ=√ =√ =10

Mode = 3Median – 2Mean

29 = 3*23 -2Mean
Mean = (3*23 -29)/2 = (69-29)/2 = 40/2 = 20

C.V.= *100 = 50%

Uses of Coefficient of Variation

 Coefficient of variation is used to know the consistency of the data. By

consistency we mean the uniformity in the values of the data/distribution from

the arithmetic mean of the data/distribution. A distribution with a
smaller C.V than the other is taken as more consistent than the other.
 C.V is also very useful when comparing two or more sets of data that are

measured in different units of measurement.

Question

Two batsmen A and B made the following scores in a series of cricket matches:

A B
14 37
13 22
26 56
53 52
17 14
29 10
79 37
36 48
84 20
49 4

Who is more consistent?

C.V.(A)= ̅
*100

C.V.(B)= ̅
*100

=24.44 ̅ = 40
=17.54 ̅ =30

C.V.(A)= ̅
*100 = *100 =61.1%

C.V.(B)= ̅
*100 = *100 = 58.47%
Hence, batsman B is more consistent.

Combined Standard Deviation

If two and more set of data are given then using their means and standard
deviations we can find the combined standard deviation.
Let us consider we have 2 set of data with first set having its mean ̅ , standard
deviation and number of observation as whereas the second set has its
̅
mean , standard deviation and number of observation as . Then the
combined mean for the two is ̅ is
̅ ̅
̅ =
Evaluate

= |̅ - ̅ |
= |̅ - ̅ |

Combined standard deviation is

=√

if there were 3 set of data with , as the number of observations, mean ̅ ,

̅ , ̅ and standard deviation as , , respectively.
Then combined mean is
 ̅ ̅ ̅
̅ =

Evaluate

= |̅ - ̅ |
= |̅ - ̅ |
= |̅ - ̅ |

Combined standard deviation is

=√

Question
The following table gives heights of boys and girls in a college. Find:
(i) Standard Deviation of boys and girls together.
(ii) Whose height is more variable?

BOYS GIRLS
Number (N) 400 100
Average height(inches) ̅̅̅ 68 65
Variance (σ2) 9 4

Solution

= 400 and =100

mean ̅ = 68 and ̅ =65

Combined Mean
̅ ̅
̅ = = 67.4

Evaluate

= | ̅ - ̅ | = 0.6
= | ̅ - ̅ |= 2.4

Combined Standard Deviation is

 =√ =√ = 3.07

(ii) C.V.(Boys)= ̅
*100 = *100 = 4.41%
C.V.(Girls)= ̅
*100 = *100 = 3.08%

⟹ Height of boys is more variable.

Question (2015)

Tow sample of size 200 and 300 respectively have means 80 and 90 and standard
deviation 5 and 6 respectively. Find the mean and standard deviation of combined
sample of size 500.