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Can standard deviation be calculated for non normal data?

Updated: 4/28/2022
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Sks14122000

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10y ago

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Standard deviation can be calculated using non-normal data, but isn't advised. You'll get abnormal results as the data isn't properly sorted, and the standard deviation will have a large window of accuracy.

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Q: Can standard deviation be calculated for non normal data?
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Does variance and standard deviation assume nominal data?

No. Variance and standard deviation are dependent on, but calculated irrespective of the data. You do, of course, have to have some variation, otherwise, the variance and standard deviation will be zero.


What determines the standard deviation to be high?

Standard deviation is a measure of the scatter or dispersion of the data. Two sets of data can have the same mean, but different standard deviations. The dataset with the higher standard deviation will generally have values that are more scattered. We generally look at the standard deviation in relation to the mean. If the standard deviation is much smaller than the mean, we may consider that the data has low dipersion. If the standard deviation is much higher than the mean, it may indicate the dataset has high dispersion A second cause is an outlier, a value that is very different from the data. Sometimes it is a mistake. I will give you an example. Suppose I am measuring people's height, and I record all data in meters, except on height which I record in millimeters- 1000 times higher. This may cause an erroneous mean and standard deviation to be calculated.


What a large standard deviation means?

A large standard deviation means that the data were spread out. It is relative whether or not you consider a standard deviation to be "large" or not, but a larger standard deviation always means that the data is more spread out than a smaller one. For example, if the mean was 60, and the standard deviation was 1, then this is a small standard deviation. The data is not spread out and a score of 74 or 43 would be highly unlikely, almost impossible. However, if the mean was 60 and the standard deviation was 20, then this would be a large standard deviation. The data is spread out more and a score of 74 or 43 wouldn't be odd or unusual at all.


What are the units of measurement of standard deviation?

Standard deviation has the same unit as the data set unit.


What does standard deviation show us about a set of scores?

Standard Deviation tells you how spread out the set of scores are with respects to the mean. It measures the variability of the data. A small standard deviation implies that the data is close to the mean/average (+ or - a small range); the larger the standard deviation the more dispersed the data is from the mean.

Related questions

Does variance and standard deviation assume nominal data?

No. Variance and standard deviation are dependent on, but calculated irrespective of the data. You do, of course, have to have some variation, otherwise, the variance and standard deviation will be zero.


What would it mean if a standard deviation was calculated to equal 0?

A standard deviation of zero means that all the data points are the same value.


Why standard deviation is best measure of dispersion?

standard deviation is best measure of dispersion because all the data distributions are nearer to the normal distribution.


How many of scores will be within 1 standard deviation of the population mean?

Assuming a normal distribution 68 % of the data samples will be with 1 standard deviation of the mean.


What does standard deviation help you find?

Standard deviation helps you identify the relative level of variation from the mean or equation approximating the relationship in the data set. In a normal distribution 1 standard deviation left or right of the mean = 68.2% of the data 2 standard deviations left or right of the mean = 95.4% of the data 3 standard deviations left or right of the mean = 99.6% of the data


What is standard deviation used for?

Standard deviation is a measure of the spread of data.


If the standard deviation is small the data is more dispersed?

No, if the standard deviation is small the data is less dispersed.


What does one standard deviation mean?

Standard deviation is a measure of variation from the mean of a data set. 1 standard deviation from the mean (which is usually + and - from mean) contains 68% of the data.


Why do we need the standard deviation?

The standard deviation is a measure of the spread of data.


What kind of distribution is a standard z distribution?

It is the normalised Gaussian distribution. To speak of a 'standard z' distribution is somewhat redundant because a z-score is already standardised. A z-score follows a normal or Gaussian distribution with a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one. It's these specific parameters (this mean and standard deviation) that are considered 'standard'. Speaking of a z-score implies a standard normal distribution. This is important because the shape of the normal distribution remains the same no matter what the mean or standard deviation are. As a consequence, tables of probabilities and other kinds of data can be calculated for the standard normal and then used for other variations of the distribution.


Relation between mean and standard deviation?

Standard deviation is the variance from the mean of the data.


What determines the standard deviation to be high?

Standard deviation is a measure of the scatter or dispersion of the data. Two sets of data can have the same mean, but different standard deviations. The dataset with the higher standard deviation will generally have values that are more scattered. We generally look at the standard deviation in relation to the mean. If the standard deviation is much smaller than the mean, we may consider that the data has low dipersion. If the standard deviation is much higher than the mean, it may indicate the dataset has high dispersion A second cause is an outlier, a value that is very different from the data. Sometimes it is a mistake. I will give you an example. Suppose I am measuring people's height, and I record all data in meters, except on height which I record in millimeters- 1000 times higher. This may cause an erroneous mean and standard deviation to be calculated.