I will restate your question as "Why are the mean and standard deviation of a sample so frequently calculated?". The standard deviation is a measure of the dispersion of the data. It certainly is not the only measure, as the range of a dataset is also a measure of dispersion and is more easily calculated. Similarly, some prefer a plot of the quartiles of the data, again to show data dispersal.t Standard deviation and the mean are needed when we want to infer certain information about the population such as confidence limits from a sample. These statistics are also used in establishing the size of the sample we need to take to improve our estimates of the population. Finally, these statistics enable us to test hypothesis with a certain degree of certainty based on our data. All this stems from the concept that there is a theoretical sampling distribution for the statistics we calculate, such as a proportion, mean or standard deviation. In general, the mean or proportion has either a normal or t distribution. Finally, the measures of dispersion will only be valid, be it range, quantiles or standard deviation, require observations which are independent of each other. This is the basis of random sampling.
Use %RSD when comparing the deviation for popolations with different means. Use SD to compare data with the same mean.
No. But they are related. If a sample of size n is taken, a standard deviation can be calculated. This is usually denoted as "s" however some textbooks will use the symbol, sigma. The standard deviation of a sample is usually used to estimate the standard deviation of the population. In this case, we use n-1 in the denomimator of the equation. The variance of the sample is the square of the sample's standard deviation. In many textbooks it is denoted as s2. In denoting the standard deviation and variance of populations, the symbols sigma and sigma2 should be used. One last note. We use standard deviations in describing uncertainty as it's easier to understand. If our measurements are in days, then the standard deviation will also be in days. The variance will be in units of days2.
Yes.
If the sample size is large (>30) or the population standard deviation is known, we use the z-distribution.If the sample sie is small and the population standard deviation is unknown, we use the t-distribution
The sample standard error.
Use %RSD when comparing the deviation for popolations with different means. Use SD to compare data with the same mean.
Because the average deviation will always be zero.
T-score is used when you don't have the population standard deviation and must use the sample standard deviation as a substitute.
Standard deviation is a measure of how spread out a set of numbers are from each other. It has a variety of uses in statistics.
The goal is to disregard the influence of sample size. When calculating Cohen's d, we use the standard deviation in teh denominator, not the standard error.
Here's how you do it in Excel: use the function =STDEV(<range with data>). That function calculates standard deviation for a sample.
No. But they are related. If a sample of size n is taken, a standard deviation can be calculated. This is usually denoted as "s" however some textbooks will use the symbol, sigma. The standard deviation of a sample is usually used to estimate the standard deviation of the population. In this case, we use n-1 in the denomimator of the equation. The variance of the sample is the square of the sample's standard deviation. In many textbooks it is denoted as s2. In denoting the standard deviation and variance of populations, the symbols sigma and sigma2 should be used. One last note. We use standard deviations in describing uncertainty as it's easier to understand. If our measurements are in days, then the standard deviation will also be in days. The variance will be in units of days2.
Yes.
Use the STDEV() function.
If the sample size is large (>30) or the population standard deviation is known, we use the z-distribution.If the sample sie is small and the population standard deviation is unknown, we use the t-distribution
There is 1) standard deviation, 2) mean deviation and 3) mean absolute deviation. The standard deviation is calculated most of the time. If our objective is to estimate the variance of the overall population from a representative random sample, then it has been shown theoretically that the standard deviation is the best estimate (most efficient). The mean deviation is calculated by first calculating the mean of the data and then calculating the deviation (value - mean) for each value. If we then sum these deviations, we calculate the mean deviation which will always be zero. So this statistic has little value. The individual deviations may however be of interest. See related link. To obtain the means absolute deviation (MAD), we sum the absolute value of the individual deviations. We will obtain a value that is similar to the standard deviation, a measure of dispersal of the data values. The MAD may be transformed to a standard deviation, if the distribution is known. The MAD has been shown to be less efficient in estimating the standard deviation, but a more robust estimator (not as influenced by erroneous data) as the standard deviation. See related link. Most of the time we use the standard deviation to provide the best estimate of the variance of the population.
waste bins: make sure bins do not over