Which statement best describes what standard deviation indicates about a data set?

Which statement best describes what standard deviation indicates about a data set?

• A. It is the average of data
• B. It is the range of data from smallest to largest
• C. It measures how far data are from the mean
• D. It identifies the most frequent value

Answer: (C)

Standard deviation describes how spread out the data are around the average. It tells you, on average, how far each value sits from the mean. When most data points cluster near the mean, the standard deviation is small; when values are more spread out, the standard deviation is larger. For example, if test scores are mostly around 80 with little variation, the standard deviation is small. If there are some unusually high or low scores pulling values far from the mean, the standard deviation increases. So, it captures the dispersion about the mean, not the average itself, not the overall range from smallest to largest, and not the most frequent value.

Standard deviation describes how spread out the data are around the average. It tells you, on average, how far each value sits from the mean. When most data points cluster near the mean, the standard deviation is small; when values are more spread out, the standard deviation is larger. For example, if test scores are mostly around 80 with little variation, the standard deviation is small. If there are some unusually high or low scores pulling values far from the mean, the standard deviation increases. So, it captures the dispersion about the mean, not the average itself, not the overall range from smallest to largest, and not the most frequent value.