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What does it mean if my standard exam deviation is 18%?
I just recieved my final exam grade for my physics class and it was a 75.67. I got very sad, but my instructor saw the look on my face and told me that the class average, not taking into account all of the people who did not show up for the final and recieved a 0, was 67 and that the standard deviation was 18%. What does this mean?
He has never curved our any grades either, so I am standing at a B- as my final grade because of this test. However, I have heard that the entire class is failing or borderline failing, so there are rumors going around that the instructor might have to curve.
1 Answer
- 7 years agoFavorite Answer
Well first of all you are clearly above average, so don't be sad. So, standard deviation is basically a measure of variability of data. I don't know if the grades in your class are 'normally distributed', but if they are then this graph: http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/images/normal-distr... shows the distribution of grades. The center value is 67% and and within a distance of 36% from this value are 68% of all values. Ok, that might sound complicated (it's not). Assuming that the grades in your class are normally distributed, all you need to know is that you are almost at the 69th percentile (because you have 8.67% more than the mean, and 9% is half of the standard deviation). Ok, sorry this will probably confuse you, but all you need to know is that you're better than more than half your class.
I would also like to add that if the grades are NOT normally distributed, then your situation could be even better. So once again, don't be sad :) and keep studying!
