MEAN DEVIATION
Every value of the variable differs from the sample mean by some specific amount which is
called its deviation. This deviation (d) of an observation (X) is given by the equation:
Definition of Mean Deviation
Mean deviation is an average mean of the deviations of values from central value or central
tendency. The central tendency can be arithmetic mean, mode or median.
Mean deviation can be defined 'as the mean of all the deviations in a given set of data obtained
from an average'. In case the deviation is greater than the mean, the deviation is positive, but if it
is less than the mean, the deviation is negative. The deviation is calculated by adding the
deviation of individual observations from their arithmetic mean without their regard to the sign
and dividing the sum by the number of observations. The mean deviation can be calculated about
any of the three averages, ie, mean (M), median (Me) or mode (Mo).
Merits of Mean Deviation
1. It is easy to understand and calculate.
2. It is based on all the observations and is a better measure of dispersion than the range
3. It provides a better measure for comparison about the information of different
distributions.
4. It is not affected much by the extreme values.
5. Mean deviation is rigidly defined and its values are precise and definite.
Demerits of Mean Deviation
1. It cannot be computed for distributions with open end classes.
2. It is not a satisfactory measure when taken about mode or while dealing with a fairly
skewed distribution
3. It is less reliable because algebraic signs are ignored.
Uses of Mean Deviation
Mean deviation and its coefficient are used in study and research in the field of medicine,
microbiology, pharmacology, economic, social sciences and business etc.
Mean deviation is good for sample studies where detailed study is not required.
Standard Deviation
Definition of Standard Deviation
Standard deviation of a series is the positive square root of the arithmetic mean of the square of
deviation of the various items from the arithmetic mean of the series. It is also called root, mean
square deviation. It is represented by Greek symbol ( ) and in short form by SD. It represents
the extent to which individual values differ from the average or mean.
Merits of Standard Deviation
It summaries in one figure the deviation of a large distribution from mean.
It is the most reliable and dependable measure of dispersion
It helps in calculating the standard error
It helps in finding the suitable size of sample for valid conclusions.
It is less affected by fluctuations in sampling
Standard deviation is rigidly defined, and its values are always definite.
Demerits of standard deviation
(ⅰ) It gives more weightage to extreme values and less to the values that are close to mean.
(ⅱ) The process of squaring deviations and then taking square root involves lengthy
calculations. Hence, its calculations are not easy
Significance of standard deviation
(ⅰ) Standard deviation is based on all the observation.
(ⅱ) The squaring of the deviations removes the drawbacks of ignoring the signs of deviations in
computing the mean deviation.
(iii) Of all the measures of dispersion, standard deviation is best because it is affected least by
fluctuations of sampling.
(iv) A large standard deviation shows that the measurements of frequency distributions are
widely spread out from the mean, while small standard deviations shows that observation are
closely spread in the neighborhood of mean.
(v) Standard deviations indicates whether the variation of difference of any individual
observations from the mean is natural or real due to some specific reason.
(vi) It helps in finding the standard error which determines whether the difference between the
means of two similar samples is by chance or real.