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| − | '''Standard deviation''' is a measure in [[Statistics|statistics]] for how much a set of values ''varies''. It allows for one to find how likely it is for a specific value to be obtained by doing a [[Z-test]]. | + | '''Standard deviation''' is a measure in [[Statistics|statistics]] of the [[dispersion]] of a set of values (represented as <math>X</math>). It is defined as the square root of the [[variance]] of these values, where variance is defined as |
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| − | ==Standard Deviation== | + | :<math>\sigma^2 = \operatorname{E}[(X-\operatorname{E}[X])^2] = \operatorname{E}[X^2] - (\operatorname{E}[X])^2</math> |
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| − | The standard deviation of a set of values is a measure of how widely the values differ from each other. Specifically, standard deviation follows the equation:
| + | where the [[expectation|expected value]] of ''X'' is E(''X''). |
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| − | :<math>\sigma(x) = \sqrt {\sum(x - \bar x) \over n - 1}</math>
| + | Thus the standard deviation is |
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| − | This is the square root of the variance, which is:
| + | :<math>\sigma = \sqrt{\operatorname{E}[(X-\operatorname{E}[X])^2]} = \sqrt{\operatorname{E}[X^2] - (\operatorname{E}[X])^2}</math> |
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| − | :<math>Var(x) = {\sum (x - \bar x) \over n - 1}</math>
| + | The formula for standard deviation must not be confused with the formula |
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| − | Where:
| + | :<math>S_{n} = \sqrt {\sum(x - \bar x) \over n - 1}</math> |
| − | *<math>\bar x</math> is the arithmetic mean of all values of x
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| − | *<math>\sum</math> is the [[summation]] function
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| − | *<math>n</math> is the number of <math>x</math> values
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| | + | which is the formula for an [[estimator]] of the true standard deviation from a sample size of ''n''. As such this estimator itself has a variance which, as the formula indicates, decreases as the sample size increases. |
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| − | If the distribution of the values is [[normal distribution|normal]] then it follows the [[Empirical rule]], which states that:
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| − | :{{main|Empirical rule}}
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| − | *68% of the values will fall within 1<math>\sigma</math> of the mean.
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| − | *95% of all values will fall within 2<math>\sigma</math> of the mean.
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| − | *99.7% of all values will fall within 3<math>\sigma</math> of the mean.
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| | [[category:statistics]] | | [[category:statistics]] |