Which of the following statements describes the variance of a data set?
A) The variance is a mean of absolute deviations.
B) The variance is a mean of positive and negative deviations.
C) The variance is a mean of squared deviations.
D) The variance is a mean of only the positive deviations.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The variance is calculated as the mean of squared deviations of each data point from the mean of the data set. This captures the variability of the data set and is used as a measure of dispersion. Option A and D both talk about mean deviations but do not mention whether they are squared or not. Option B is incorrect as positive and negative deviations cancel each other out when calculating the mean.

Which of the Following Statements Describes the Variance of a Data