Question

Database a contains 40 data items and is made up with an equal number of values of zero and 100 and has a mean of 50. Database B also has 40 entries made up equally of values 49 and 51 and also has the means of 50. Which database will have the smaller value for its standard deviation?

Answer 1

The database that will have the smaller value for its standard deviation is Database B.

Standard deviation refers to how dispersed a collection of data is when compared to the mean. From the values given we can see that database B has more spread than database A so it would have a smaller value for its standard deviation.

Both of the databases have a mean of 50 and the spread of database A is from 0 to 100 while that of B is from 49 to 51. Thus, we can see that database B has a smaller spread and a smaller standard deviation.