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Question

What is the standard deviation of the observations

\(-\sqrt{6}, -\sqrt{5},- \sqrt{4}, -1, 1, \sqrt{4}, \sqrt{5}, \sqrt{6} \ ?\)

This question was previously asked in
NDA 2020 GAT Previous Year Paper (06-Sep-2020)
The correct answer is

2

Calculating Standard Deviation for Observations

The question asks us to find the standard deviation of a given set of observations. The observations are: \(-\sqrt{6}, -\sqrt{5},- \sqrt{4}, -1, 1, \sqrt{4}, \sqrt{5}, \sqrt{6}\).

First, let's simplify the observations:

\(-\sqrt{6}, -\sqrt{5},-2, -1, 1, 2, \sqrt{5}, \sqrt{6}\)

The number of observations, \(N\), is 8.

Steps to Calculate Standard Deviation

To find the standard deviation, we follow these steps:

  1. Calculate the mean (\(\mu\)) of the observations.
  2. Calculate the variance (\(\sigma^2\)), which is the average of the squared differences from the mean.
  3. Calculate the standard deviation (\(\sigma\)), which is the square root of the variance.

Step 1: Calculate the Mean

The mean (\(\mu\)) is the sum of all observations divided by the number of observations.

Sum of observations = \((-\sqrt{6}) + (-\sqrt{5}) + (-2) + (-1) + 1 + 2 + \sqrt{5} + \sqrt{6}\)

Sum of observations = \((-\sqrt{6} + \sqrt{6}) + (-\sqrt{5} + \sqrt{5}) + (-2 + 2) + (-1 + 1)\)

Sum of observations = \(0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 0\)

Mean (\(\mu\)) = \(\frac{\text{Sum of observations}}{N} = \frac{0}{8} = 0\)

The mean of the given observations is 0.

Step 2: Calculate the Variance

The variance (\(\sigma^2\)) is the average of the squared differences from the mean. Since the mean is 0, the variance is the average of the squared observations.

Let's find the square of each observation:

  • \((-\sqrt{6})^2 = 6\)
  • \((-\sqrt{5})^2 = 5\)
  • \((-2)^2 = 4\)
  • \((-1)^2 = 1\)
  • \(1^2 = 1\)
  • \(2^2 = 4\)
  • \((\sqrt{5})^2 = 5\)
  • \((\sqrt{6})^2 = 6\)

Sum of squared observations = \(6 + 5 + 4 + 1 + 1 + 4 + 5 + 6 = 32\)

Variance (\(\sigma^2\)) = \(\frac{\text{Sum of squared observations}}{N} = \frac{32}{8} = 4\)

The variance of the observations is 4.

Step 3: Calculate the Standard Deviation

The standard deviation (\(\sigma\)) is the square root of the variance.

Standard Deviation (\(\sigma\)) = \(\sqrt{\text{Variance}} = \sqrt{4} = 2\)

The standard deviation of the given observations is 2.

Let's present the observations and their squared values in a table:

Observation (\(x\)) \(x^2\)
\(-\sqrt{6}\) 6
\(-\sqrt{5}\) 5
-2 4
-1 1
1 1
2 4
\(\sqrt{5}\) 5
\(\sqrt{6}\) 6
Sum: 0 Sum: 32

Mean = \(0/8 = 0\)

Variance = \(32/8 = 4\)

Standard Deviation = \(\sqrt{4} = 2\)

The standard deviation of the observations is 2.

Revision Table: Standard Deviation Calculation

Concept Formula Calculation (for this problem)
Mean (\(\mu\)) \(\frac{\Sigma x}{N}\) \(\frac{0}{8} = 0\)
Variance (\(\sigma^2\)) \(\frac{\Sigma (x - \mu)^2}{N}\) or \(\frac{\Sigma x^2}{N} - \mu^2\) \(\frac{32}{8} - 0^2 = 4\)
Standard Deviation (\(\sigma\)) \(\sqrt{\sigma^2}\) \(\sqrt{4} = 2\)

Additional Information: Understanding Standard Deviation

Standard deviation is a measure of the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values. A low standard deviation indicates that the values tend to be close to the mean (also called the expected value) of the set, while a high standard deviation indicates that the values are spread out over a wider range.

  • It is the square root of the variance.
  • It is widely used in statistics and probability theory.
  • It is denoted by the Greek letter sigma (\(\sigma\)) for the population standard deviation or by \(s\) for the sample standard deviation. In this case, we treated the given values as the entire population, so we used \(\sigma\).
  • Standard deviation is in the same units as the data, making it easier to interpret than variance.
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Similar Questions

  1. If \(\rm \displaystyle \sum_{i = 1}^{10}x_i = 110\)  and  \(\rm \displaystyle \sum_{i = 1}^{10}x_i^2 = 1540\)   then what is the variance?

  2. The sum of deviations of n numbers from 10 and 20 are p and q respectively. If (p - q)2 = 10000, then what is the value of n?

  3. In any discrete series (when all values are not same) if x represent mean deviation about mean and y represent standard deviation, then which one of the following is correct?

  4. If V is the variance and M is the mean of first 15 natural numbers, then what is V + M 2equal to?

  5. Arithmetic mean of 10 observations is 60 and sum of squares of deviations from 50 is 5000. What is the standard deviation of the observations?

  6. Consider the following statements:

    1) If 10 is added to each entry on a list, then the average increases by 10

    2) IF 10 is added to each entry on a list, then the standard deviation increases by 10

    3) if each entry on a list is doubled then the average doubles

    What of the above statements are correct?

  7. The variance of 25 observations is 4. If 2 is added to each observation, then the new variance of the resulting observations is

  8. An analysis of monthly wages paid to the workers in two firms A and B belonging to the same industry gives the following result:

    Firm A

    Firm B

    Number of workers

    500

    600

    Average monthly wage

    Rs. 1860

    Rs. 1750

    Variance of distribution of wages

    81

    100

    The average of monthly wage and variance of distribution of wages of all the workers in the firms A and B taken together are

  9. If \(\rm \sum x_i = 20, \sum x_i^2=200\)  and n = 10 for an observed variable x, then what is the coefficient of variation?

  10. If the data are moderately non-symmetrical, then which one of the following empirical relationships is correct?


Important Questions from Variance and Standard Deviation

  1. Consider a population that is finite, and sampling is with replacement. If the variance of the population is 2176.8 with a sample size of 16, then the variance of the sampling distribution of means is:

  2. If \(\rm \displaystyle \sum_{i = 1}^{10}x_i = 110\)  and  \(\rm \displaystyle \sum_{i = 1}^{10}x_i^2 = 1540\)   then what is the variance?

  3. The sum of deviations of n numbers from 10 and 20 are p and q respectively. If (p - q)2 = 10000, then what is the value of n?

  4. The fourth central moment of a mesokurtic distribution is 243. Its standard deviation is:

  5. The standard deviation of the first 10 natural numbers is 3.028. What will be the standard deviation of the first 20 natural numbers?

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