can anyone help me to figure out how to work out STANDARD DEVEATION CALCULATIONS please?
Do you have a specific example? There are formulas for standard deviation you can use if you are expected to do the calculations by hand. You can also use calculators or statistical software packages. These are easier ways to achieve the same results.
First read carefully this link:
http://www.robertniles.com/stats/stdev.shtml
Then this one:
http://www.mathsrevision.net/gcse/pages.php?page=42
Sure, I'd be happy to explain how to calculate standard deviation!
Standard deviation is a measure of how spread out the values in a data set are. It tells you how much the individual data points deviate from the mean (average) of the data set.
To calculate standard deviation by hand, you can follow these steps:
1. Find the mean (average) of the data set.
2. Subtract the mean from each data point, then square the result.
3. Find the mean of the squared differences.
4. Take the square root of the mean from step 3.
Alternatively, you can use calculators or statistical software packages to calculate standard deviation with ease.
Now, let's look at an example to illustrate how to calculate standard deviation. Consider the following data set: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.
Step 1: Find the mean.
Add up all the values: 2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 10 = 30.
Divide the sum by the number of data points: 30 / 5 = 6.
So, the mean is 6.
Step 2: Subtract the mean from each data point and square the result.
For each value, subtract the mean and square the result:
(2 - 6)^2 = 16
(4 - 6)^2 = 4
(6 - 6)^2 = 0
(8 - 6)^2 = 4
(10 - 6)^2 = 16
Step 3: Find the mean of the squared differences.
Add up the squared differences: 16 + 4 + 0 + 4 + 16 = 40.
Divide the sum by the number of data points: 40 / 5 = 8.
So, the mean of the squared differences is 8.
Step 4: Take the square root of the mean from step 3.
√8 ≈ 2.83
So, the standard deviation is approximately 2.83.
I recommend exploring the links you mentioned for further explanations and examples. Understanding the concept and practicing with different examples will help you become proficient in calculating standard deviation.