Question

Calculate the variance and the standard deviation of the data below 23. 19, 22, 30, 28

Answer 1

To get the variance, start with finding the mean of your data points:

(23 + 19 + 22 + 30 + 28) / 5 = 24.4

Now take each data point and subtract the mean from it, then square that value:

23 - 24.4 = -1.4 * -1.4 = 1.96

19 - 24.4 = -5.4 * -5.4 = 29.16

22 - 24.4 = -2.4 * -2.4 = 5.76

30 - 24.4 = 5.6 * 5.6 = 31.36

28 - 24.4 = 3.6 * 3.6 = 12.96

Now get the average of those new numbers. That is your variance:

(1.96 + 29.16 + 5.76 + 31.36 + 12.96) / 5 = 16.24

The standard deviation will be the square root of the variance:

√(16.24) = 4.0299 (rounded to 4DP)