Ohio Assessments for Educators (OAE) Assessment of Professional Knowledge Practice Exam

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What does standard deviation measure?

The average of a data set
The frequency of occurrence of data
The range of values within a data set
The median value of a set

The correct answer is: The range of values within a data set

Standard deviation measures the amount of variation or dispersion in a set of values. It indicates how much individual data points differ from the mean (average) of the data set. A low standard deviation means that the values tend to be close to the mean, while a high standard deviation indicates that the values are spread out over a wider range. The correct understanding focuses on how standard deviation quantifies the extent of variability within the data, essentially reflecting how tightly data points cluster around the mean. This concept contrasts with the range of values in a data set, which is simply the difference between the highest and lowest values and does not provide information about the distribution of values in between. Thus, standard deviation is not about just identifying the spread (range) but is more about quantifying the average distance of each data point from the mean. This deeper insight into data variability makes it a crucial statistical measure in various fields, including education and psychology.