1. The variability of a population, as measured by the standard deviation, is the
A. Extent to which the individual values of the items in the population are spread about the mean.
B. Degree of asymmetry of a distribution.
C. Tendency of the means of large samples (at least 30 items) to be normally distributed.
D. Measure of the closeness of a sample estimate to a corresponding population characteristic.
ANSWER (A) is correct.
REQUIRED: The definition of standard deviation.
DISCUSSION: The standard deviation measures the degree of dispersion of items in a population about its mean.
Answer (B) is incorrect. The dispersion of items in a population is not a function of the degree of asymmetry of the distribution. For example, a distribution may be skewed (positively or negatively) with a large or small standard deviation.
Answer (C) is incorrect. The central limit theorem states that the distribution of sample means for large samples should be normally distributed even if the underlying population is not.
Answer (D) is incorrect. Precision is the interval about the sample statistic within which the true value is expected to fall.