The research director at Roll Tide school district is conducting research on the amount of money spent per child at each of the 50 schools in the district. For each school, she collects data on "how much money is spent per child" (measured in whole dollars). She computes the standard deviation for "how much money is spent per child." Is this appropriate given the measurement scale of this variable?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The variable "how much money is spent per child" is a ratio scale variable because it has a meaningful zero point (indicating no money spent) and allows for the comparison of differences and ratios between measurements. Standard deviation is an appropriate measure of variability for ratio scale variables, as it quantifies the dispersion of data points around the mean.

The Research Director at Roll Tide School District Is Conducting