Grade 8 Standard Deviation Worksheet

Standard Deviation Practice

Read each question carefully and follow the instructions. Show all your work for calculation problems.

Standard deviation measures the average amount of variability or dispersion in a dataset. A low standard deviation indicates that data points are generally close to the mean, while a high standard deviation indicates that data points are spread out over a wider range of values.

1. Standard deviation tells us how much the data points   from the  .

2. A small standard deviation means the data is clustered   the mean.

3. A large standard deviation means the data is   out.

4. Consider two sets of test scores: Set A: {85, 88, 90, 87, 86} and Set B: {70, 95, 80, 100, 85}. Without calculating, which set do you think has a larger standard deviation and why?

5. Which of the following is NOT a measure of data variability?

6. A small business has 5 employees. Their monthly salaries are: $2500, $2600, $2700, $2800, $2900. Another business also has 5 employees, and their salaries are: $2000, $2500, $3000, $3500, $4000. Which business likely has a higher standard deviation in salaries? Explain your reasoning.

7. A standard deviation of zero means all data points are identical.