The amount spent on textbooks for the fall term was recorded for a sample of five university students - $400, $350, $600, $525, and $450. Calculate the value of the sample standard deviation for the data.
A) $450
B) $250
C) $98.75
D) $99.37

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To calculate the sample standard deviation, first find the mean of the data: (400 + 350 + 600 + 525 + 450) / 5 = 465. Then, calculate the squared differences from the mean, sum them, and divide by (n-1) where n is the sample size: [(400-465)² + (350-465)² + (600-465)² + (525-465)² + (450-465)²] / 4 = 9875. Finally, take the square root of this result to get the sample standard deviation: √9875 ≈ 99.37.

The Amount Spent on Textbooks for the Fall Term Was