The definition of the mean x of a set of data is the sum of all the values divided by the total number of observations, and this value is in turn subtracted from each x value to calculate the deviations. When the deviations from the average are added up, the sum will always be zero because of the negative signs in the sum of deviations. Going back to the definition of the mean, the equation provided (x = Σxi/n) can be manipulated to read Σxi - x = 0
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The sum of total deviations about the mean is the total variance. * * * * * No it is not - that is the sum of their SQUARES. The sum of the deviations is always zero.
0 (zero).
For which measure of central tendency will the sum of the deviations always be zero?
Zero.
the mean