Uses of Standard Deviation
1. One can use Standard Deviation to compare the dispersions of two or more given distributions when the units of measurement and arithmetic means of the distributions are the same.
2. Standard Deviation is also used for testing the reliability of mean. Simply put, the mean of a distribution which has the least standard deviation is considered more reliable.
Standard Deviation: Meaning, Coefficient of Standard Deviation, Merits, and Demerits
The methods of measuring dispersion such as quartile deviation, range, mean deviation, etc., are not universally adopted as they do not provide much accuracy. Range does not provide required satisfaction as in the entire group, range’s magnitude is determined by most extreme cases. Quartile Deviation does not have algebraic properties and it is also difficult to interpret it. However, Mean Deviation ignores the deviation’s algebraic signs making it unsatisfactory. All these issues increased the need for a measure of dispersion that is free from these shortcomings, which was to some extent solved by Standard Deviation.