How to Calculate the Mean Deviation of a Data Set: Step-by-Step Example

Learn how to calculate the mean deviation of the data set 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32, 34 with a simple step-by-step method.

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To find the mean deviation, first calculate the mean of the data: (8+9+12+15+16+20+24+30+32+34)/10 = 20. Then, subtract each number from the mean and take the absolute value: |8-20|, |9-20|, ..., |34-20|. The results are 12, 11, 8, 5, 4, 0, 4, 10, 12, 14. The sum of these values is 80. Finally, divide by the number of data points: 80/10 = 8. The mean deviation of the given data is 8.

FAQs & Answers

  1. What is mean deviation in statistics? Mean deviation is the average of the absolute differences between each data point and the mean of the data set, measuring data dispersion.
  2. How do you calculate mean deviation step-by-step? First, calculate the mean of the data set. Then, find the absolute difference between each data point and the mean. Sum these absolute differences and divide by the number of data points.
  3. What is the difference between mean deviation and standard deviation? Mean deviation averages the absolute deviations from the mean, while standard deviation squares the deviations before averaging, making it more sensitive to outliers.