Which of the following statements about the mean absolute deviation (MAD) is the most accurate?
A) It is the square root of the standard deviation.
B) It can be a positive number or a negative number.
C) It is measured in the same units as the original data.
D) It is the arithmetic mean of the squared deviations from the mean.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The mean absolute deviation (MAD) is defined as the average distance between each data point and the mean of the data set. It is always non-negative and is measured in the same units as the original data. Option A is incorrect because the square root of the variance, not the standard deviation, gives us the standard deviation. Option B is incorrect because MAD is always positive, as it is the "average distance." Option D describes the formula for calculating variance, not MAD.

Which of the Following Statements About the Mean Absolute Deviation