Standard Deviation - Formula, Examples & How to Calculate

Standard deviation is a statistical measure that describes how much

variation or dispersion there is in a set of data points. It helps us
understand how spread out the values in a dataset are compared to the
mean (average). A higher standard deviation means the data points are
more spread out, while a lower standard deviation means they are
closer to the mean.
Standard deviation can be classified as:
Low standard deviation: The data points are close to the mean,
meaning the values are relatively consistent.
High standard deviation: The data points are spread out over a
wider range, meaning there's more variability in the data.

The image below shows the standard deviation along with the formula:

In simple terms, standard deviation tells you how much the numbers in
a group are spread out from the average (mean).
If you have test scores like 90, 91, 92, 93, the standard deviation is
small because all the scores are close to each other.
 If you have test scores like 60, 80, 90, 100, 120, the standard
deviation is large because the scores are spread out over a wide range.

Here we will learn about standard deviation, population, and

sample, their various formulas, steps to calculate them, and much
more.

Mathematical Definition
In mathematical terms, the standard deviation is the square root of the
variance. Variance is the average of the squared differences from the
mean.
Standard Deviation is defined as the degree of dispersion of the data
points from the mean value of the data points.

Mean Deviation = 1/n∑in ( xi - x̄ ) 2

Standard deviation is a measure used in statistics to understand how

the data points in a set are spread out from the mean value.
It indicates the extent of the data's variation and shows how far
individual data points deviate from the average.

Population and Sample

Before learning about the formula, let's explore what population is and
what a sample is.

Population and Sample

Population

A population is the entire set of individuals or items that you're

interested in studying. It represents the whole group about which you
want to conclude. The population includes every possible member or
data point that fits the criteria of your study.
Example: If you're studying the average height of all adult women
in a country, the population would include every adult woman in
that country.

Sample

A sample is a subset of the population. Since it's often impractical or

impossible to study the entire population, researchers use a sample,
which should ideally be representative of the population. By
analyzing the sample, you can make inferences about the population as
a whole.
 Example: If you're studying the average height of all adult women
in a country, you might only study a random sample of 1,000 adult
women instead of everyone in the country.

Standard Deviation Formula

The formula for the standard deviation depends on whether you're
working with a sample or an entire population.

For Sample Data

s=

where,
s is Population Standard
Deviation xi is the ith observation
x̄ is the Sample Mean
N is the Number of Observations
∑ = sum over all the values

For Population Data

σ=

where, N is the Number of Observations

σ is Population Standard Deviation
xi is the ith Observation
 ∑ = Sum over all the values

It is evident that both formulas look the same and have only slide
changes in their denominator. The denominator in the case of the
sample is n-1, but in the case of the population is N. Initially, the
denominator in the sample standard deviation formula has "n" in its
denominator, but the result from this formula was not appropriate. So, a
correction was made, and the n is replaced with n-1 formula correction
is called Bessel's correction, which in turn produced the most
appropriate results.

Steps to Calculate Standard Deviation

Generally, when we talk about standard deviation, we talk about
population standard deviation. The steps to calculate the standard
deviation of a given set of values are as follows,

Step 1: Calculate mean of observation using the (Mean =

Sum of Observations/Number of Observations)
Step 2: Calculate squared differences of data values from the mean.
(Data Value - Mean)2
Step 3: Calculate average of squared differences (Variance
= Sum of Squared Differences / Number of Observations)
Step 4: Calculate square root of variance this gives the Standard
Deviation
(Standard Deviation = √Variance)

What is Variance?
Variance is a statistical measure that tells us how spread out the values
in a data set are from the mean ( average) .
It is the average of the squared differences from the mean.
Variance shows how much the numbers in your data vary from the
average value.
If the variance is small, the numbers are close to the mean.
If the variance is large, the numbers are more spread out.

Variance Formula

The formula to calculate the variance of a dataset is as follows:

Variance ( σ2) = Σ [( x - μ) 2] / N

Where:
Σ denotes Summation (adding up)
x represents Each Individual Data Point
μ is the Mean (Average) of the Dataset
N is the Total Number of Data Points
∑ = sum over all the values

How to Calculate Variance?

The steps to calculate the variance of a dataset:

Step1: Calculate the Mean ( Average) :

Add up all the values in the dataset and divide by the total number
of values. This gives you the mean (μ).
Mean (μ) = (Sum of All Values) / (Total Number of Values)
Step2: Find the Difference from the Mean
Subtract the mean from each value in the data set. This shows how
far each value is from the average.
For each data value: xi - Meanx
Step3: Square Each Difference
Square the result from Step 2 to eliminate negative signs and give
 more weight to larger differences.
Squared Difference for Each Value = (Value - Mean) 2
Step4: Calculate the Average of the Squared Differences:
Add up all the squared differences calculated in the previous step, and
then divide by the total number of values in the dataset. This gives you
the variance (σ^ 2).
Variance (σ2) = (Sum of all Squared Differences) / (Total
Number of Values)
Sample Variance (if you're working with a sample only): s2
= (Sum of all Squared Differences) / N - 1
Population Variance (if you have all data):
σ2 = (Sum of all Squared Differences) / N

Variance Vs Standard Deviation

The key difference between variance and standard deviation is given
below:

Variance Deviation ( Standard

Deviation)

Measure of average distance

The measure of spread in a dataset.
from the mean.

Average of squared differences

The square root of the variance.
from the mean.

σ^ 2 (sigma squared) σ (sigma)

Indicates the average

Indicates the average
squared deviation of data
distance of data points
points from the mean.
from the mean.

Harder to interpret directly (due Easier to interpret; shows

to squared units) how spread out the data
is
Standard Deviation of Ungrouped Data
For ungrouped data, the standard deviation can be calculated using three
methods:

Actual Mean Method

Assumed Mean Method
Step Deviation Method

Standard Deviation by Actual Mean Method

Standard Deviation by actual mean method uses the basic mean

formula to calculate the mean of the given data, and using this mean
value, we find out the standard deviation of the given data values. We
calculate the mean in this method with the formula,

μ = ( Sum of Observations) /( Number of Observations)

Standard deviation formula for the Actual mean method

σ = √( ∑in ( xi - x̄ ) 2/n)

Example: Find the Standard Deviation of the data set, X = {2, 3, 4, 5,

6}

Given,
n=5
xi = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

We know,
Mean(μ) = (Sum of Observations)/(Number of Observations)
⇒ μ = (2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6)/ 5
⇒ μ=4
using standard deviation formula
σ2 = ∑in (xi - x̄ )2/n
⇒ σ2 = 1/n[(2 - 4)2 + (3 - 4)2 + (4 - 4)2 + (5 - 4)2 + (6 - 4)2]
⇒ σ2 = 10/5 = 2
Thus, σ = √( 2) = 1.414
Standard Deviation by Assumed Mean Method
For very large values of x, finding the mean of the grouped data is a
tedious task; therefore, we use an assumed mean method where we
assume an arbitrary value (A) as the mean value and then calculate the
standard deviation using the normal method. Suppose for the group of n
data values ( x1, x2, x3, ..., xn), the assumed mean is A, then the
deviation is,

di = xi - A

Where,
xi = data values
A = assumed mean

Standard Deviation formula for the assumed mean method

σ = √( ∑in ( di) 2/n)

Where,
'n' = Total Number of Data
Values di = xi - A

Standard Deviation by Step Deviation Method

We can also calculate the standard deviation of the grouped data using
the step deviation method. As in the above method, in this method also,
we choose some arbitrary data value as the assumed mean (say A).
Then we calculate the deviations of all data values (x1, x2, x3, ..., xn), di
= xi - A
In the next step, we calculate the Step Deviations (d') using

d' = d/i

where 'i is a Common Factor of all values

Standard Deviation Formula for Step Deviation Method

σ = √[( ∑( di2 /n) - ( ∑din) 2] × i

where,
'n' = Total Number of Data
Values di = xi - A

Standard Deviation of Discrete Grouped Data

In grouped data, first, we made a frequency table, and then any further
calculation was made. For discrete grouped data, the standard deviation
can also be calculated using three methods:
Actual Mean Method
Assumed Mean
Method Step Deviation
Method

Formula Based on Discrete Frequency Distribution

For a given data set, if it has n values (x1, x2, x3, ..., xn) and the
frequency corresponding to them is (f1, f2, f3, ..., fn), then its standard
deviation is calculated using the formula,

σ = √( ∑in fi( xi - x̄ ) 2/n)

where,
n is Total Frequency (n = f1 + f2 + f3 +...+
fn ) x̄ is the Mean of the Data
xi Value of data point
fi frequency of data points

Example: Calculate the standard deviation for the given data

xi fi

10 1

4 3
 xi fi

6 5

8 1

Solution:

Mean (x̄ ) = ∑(fi xi)/∑(fi)

⇒ Mean (μ) = (10×1 + 4×3 + 6×5 + 8×1)/(1 + 3 + 5 + 1)
⇒ Mean (μ) = 60/10 = 6
n = ∑(fi) = 1 + 3 + 5 + 1 = 10

xi fi fixi ( xi - x̄ ) ( xi - x̄ ) 2 fi( xi - x̄ ) 2

10 1 10 4 16 16

4 3 12 -2 4 12

6 5 30 0 0 0

8 1 8 2 4 8

Now,
using standard deviation formula
σ = √( ∑in fi( xi - x̄ ) 2/n)
⇒ σ = √[(16 + 12 + 0 +8)/10]
⇒ σ = √(3.6) = 1.897
Standard Derivation(σ) = 1.897

Standard Deviation of Discrete Data by Assumed Mean Method

In grouped data, if the values in the given data set are very large, then
we assume a random value (say A) as the mean of the data. Then, the
deviation of each value from the assumed mean is calculated as,

di = xi - A

di = Deviation of data point from assumed mean

Standard deviation formula for the assumed mean method

σ = √[( ∑( fidi) 2 /n) - ( ∑fidi/n) 2]

where,
'f' is the Frequency of Data Value x
di = Deviation of data point from assumed
mean 'n' is Total Frequency [n = ∑( fi) ]

Standard Deviation of Discrete Data by Step Deviation Method

We can also use the step deviation method to calculate the standard
deviation of the discrete grouped data. As in the above method, in this
method also, we choose some arbitrary data value as the assumed mean
(say A). Then we calculate the deviations of all data values (x1, x2, x3,
..., xn), di = xi - A

In the next step, we calculate the Step Deviations ( d') using

d' = d/i

where 'C' is the Common Factor of all 'd values

Standard deviation formula for the Step Deviation Method

2 2
σ=C ( )

Where,
σ = Standard Deviation
C = Common Factor of all 'd values
∑ fid2 =i Sum total of the squared step deviations multiplied by
frequencies
 ∑ fidi = Sum total of step deviations multiplied by frequencies

N = Total Number of Data Values

Standard Deviation of Continuous Grouped Data

For the continuous grouped data, we can easily calculate the standard
deviation using the Discrete data formulas by replacing each class with
its midpoint (as xi) and then normally calculating the formulas.
The calculation of each class is calculated using the formula:

xi ( Midpoint) = ( Upper Bound + Lower Bound)/2

Standard Deviation Formula for Grouped Data:

s=

Where:
xi = midpoint of each class interval
fi = frequency of each class interval
xˉ= mean of the grouped data
s = standard deviation

For example, calculate the standard deviation of continuous grouped

data as given in the table.

Class 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40

Frequency( fi) 2 4 2 2

Solution:
Class 5-15 15-25 25-35 35-45

xi 10 20 30 40
 Frequency( fi)
2 4 2 2

Mean (x̄ ) = ∑(fi xi)/∑(fi)

⇒ Mean (μ) = (10×2 + 20×4 + 30×2 + 40×2)/(2+4+2+2)
⇒ Mean (μ) = 240/10 =
24 n = ∑(fi) = 2+4+2+2
= 10

xi fi fixi ( xi - x̄ ) ( xi - x̄ ) 2 fi( xi - x̄ ) 2

10 2 20 14 196 392

20 4 80 -4 16 64

30 2 60 6 36 72

40 2 80 16 256 512

Now using standard deviation formula:

σ = √( ∑in fi( xi - x̄ ) 2/n)
⇒ σ = √[(392 + 64 + 72 +512)/10]
⇒ σ = √(104) = 10.198
Standard Derivation(σ) = 10.198

Standard Deviation Formula Examples

Example 1: Find the Standard Deviation of the following data,

xi
5 12 15

fi
2 4 3
Solution:

First, make the table as follows, so we can calculate the further values
easily.

Xi fi Xi×fi Xi-μ ( Xi-μ) 2 f×( Xi-μ) 2

5 2 10 -6.375 40.64 81.28

12 3 36 0.625 0.39 1.17

15 3 45 3.625 13.14 39.42

Total 8 91 121.87

Mean (μ) = ∑(fi xi)/∑(fi)

⇒ Mean (μ) = 91/8 = 11.375
using standard deviation formula
σ = √(∑in fi(xi - μ)2/n)
⇒ σ = √[(121.87)/(8)]
⇒ σ = √(15.234)
⇒ σ = 3.90
 Standard Derivation(σ) = 3.90

Example 2: Find the Standard Deviation of the following data table.

Class Frequency

0-10 3

10-20 6

20-30 4

30-40 2

40-50 1

Solution:

Class Xi fi f×Xi Xi - μ ( Xi - μ) 2 f×( Xi - μ) 2

0-10 5 3 15 -15 225 675

10-20 15 6 90 -5 25 150

20-30 25 4 100 5 25 100

30-40 35 2 70 15 225 450

40-50 45 1 45 25 625 625

Total 16 320 2000

Mean (μ) = ∑(fi xi)/∑(fi)

⇒ Mean (μ) = 320/16 = 20
now, by using standard deviation formula
 σ = √(∑in fi(xi - μ)2/n)
⇒ σ = √[(2000)/(16)]
⇒ σ = √(125)
⇒ σ = 11.18
Standard Derivation(σ) = 11.18

Standard Deviation Formula in Excel

Use Excel's built-in functions STDEV.P for the entire population or
STDEV.S for a sample.
Step-by-Step Guide: Enter your data set in a single column, then
type =STDEV.S(A1:A10) (replace A1:A10 with your data range.)
in a new cell to get the standard deviation for a sample.
Visual Aids: Utilize Excel's chart tools to visually represent data
variability alongside standard deviation.

Example: Suppose you have the following numbers in cells A1 to

A5: Solution:

For population SD: =STDEV.P(A1:A5)

For sample SD: =STDEV.S(A1:A5)