Question

which of the following statements is false about standard deviation? it is the measure of spread for symmetrically distributed data. it can be calculated using a calculator. it is used to describe the spread whereas the median is used to describe the center. it can be calculated using a formula.

Explanation:

• Standard deviation is a measure of spread for all types of data (not just symmetrically distributed data).
• It can be calculated using a calculator (many calculators have a standard - deviation function).
• The formula for sample standard deviation is \(s=\sqrt{\frac{\sum_{i = 1}^{n}(x_{i}-\bar{x})^{2}}{n - 1}}\) and for population standard deviation is \(\sigma=\sqrt{\frac{\sum_{i = 1}^{N}(x_{i}-\mu)^{2}}{N}}\), so it can be calculated using a formula.
• Standard deviation measures spread and median (or mean) measures the center of the data.

Answer:

It is the measure of spread for symmetrically distributed data.