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Standard deviation is a measure of variability of a data set. It describes the average distance between individual data values and the mean. The lower the standard deviation, the less variable and more consistent the data is. Check your understanding by completing the activity below.



Calculator Tips

Refer to the following websites for calculator instructions:

Mathbits: Basic Commands Opens a new window
This site provides directions for calculating the one-variable statistics in the graphing calculator.

Mathbits: Mean, Mode, Median with Grouped Data Opens a new window
This is where you can find the mean, median, quartiles, and standard deviation for sets of data.

Mathbits: Histograms Opens a new window
This site provides directions on constructing histograms in the graphing calculator. Follow these same steps for constructing box and whisker plots.