Arosa Hya
02-18-2015, 11:47 PM
Standard Deviation
Simple Example of Calculating Standard DeviationLet's say we wanted to calculate the standard deviation for the amounts of gold coins pirates on a pirate ship have.
There are 100 pirates on the ship. In statistical terms this means we have a population of 100. If we know the amount of gold coins each of the 100 pirates have, we use the standard deviation equation for an entire population:
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/standard-deviation-1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/where.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/standard-deviation-def-1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/value-1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/mean.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/population.png
What if we don't know the amount of gold coins each of the 100 pirates have? For example, we only had enough time to ask 5 pirates how many gold coins they have. In statistical terms this means we have a sample size of 5 and in this case we use the standard deviation equation for a sample of a population:
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/standard-deviation-2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/where.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/value-2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/standard-deviation-def-2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/value-2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/mean.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sample-size.png
The rest of this example will be done in the case where we have a sample size of 5 pirates, therefore we will be using the standard deviation equation for a sample of a population.
Here are the amounts of gold coins the 5 pirates have:
4, 2, 5, 8, 6.
Now, let's calculate the standard deviation:
1. Calculate the mean:
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/mean-def-1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/mean-def-2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/mean-def-3.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/mean-def-4.png
2. Calculate http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/x-x.png for each value in the sample:
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/x1-x1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/x2-x1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/x3-x1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/x4-x1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/x5-x1.png
3. Calculate http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sumx-x.png:
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sumx-x1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sumx-x2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sumx-x3.png
4. Calculate the standard deviation:
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/standard-deviation-2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sdans1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sdans2.png
The standard deviation for the amounts of gold coins the pirrates have is 2.24 gold coins.
Simple Example of Calculating Standard DeviationLet's say we wanted to calculate the standard deviation for the amounts of gold coins pirates on a pirate ship have.
There are 100 pirates on the ship. In statistical terms this means we have a population of 100. If we know the amount of gold coins each of the 100 pirates have, we use the standard deviation equation for an entire population:
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/standard-deviation-1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/where.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/standard-deviation-def-1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/value-1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/mean.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/population.png
What if we don't know the amount of gold coins each of the 100 pirates have? For example, we only had enough time to ask 5 pirates how many gold coins they have. In statistical terms this means we have a sample size of 5 and in this case we use the standard deviation equation for a sample of a population:
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/standard-deviation-2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/where.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/value-2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/standard-deviation-def-2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/value-2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/mean.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sample-size.png
The rest of this example will be done in the case where we have a sample size of 5 pirates, therefore we will be using the standard deviation equation for a sample of a population.
Here are the amounts of gold coins the 5 pirates have:
4, 2, 5, 8, 6.
Now, let's calculate the standard deviation:
1. Calculate the mean:
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/mean-def-1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/mean-def-2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/mean-def-3.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/mean-def-4.png
2. Calculate http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/x-x.png for each value in the sample:
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/x1-x1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/x2-x1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/x3-x1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/x4-x1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/x5-x1.png
3. Calculate http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sumx-x.png:
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sumx-x1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sumx-x2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sumx-x3.png
4. Calculate the standard deviation:
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/standard-deviation-2.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sdans1.png
http://standard-deviation.appspot.com/images/sdans2.png
The standard deviation for the amounts of gold coins the pirrates have is 2.24 gold coins.