Final answer:
True, the standard deviation is a measure of the magnitude of variation or dispersion in a set of potential outcomes.
Step-by-step explanation:
True, the standard deviation measures the magnitude of potential outcomes. It is a statistical measure that quantifies the amount of variation or dispersion in a set of values. A low standard deviation indicates that the data points are generally close to the mean (expected value), while a high standard deviation indicates that the data points are spread out over a wider range of values. When the standard deviation is zero, it means that all values are identical. In the context of outcomes, standard deviation provides insight into the variability of possible results around the expected value.
The standard deviation can be applied to a variety of fields, including finance to asses investment risks, in engineering to measure tolerances, and in psychology to evaluate the variability of test results. The key takeaway is that it serves as a useful metric to gauge how spread out the values in a data set are from the average value.