Advantages of Standard Deviation:
- Its definition is clear and precise.
- All observations of the data are used in its computation.
- It is a more efficient measure of dispersion among the other measures of dispersion.
- If Mean and Standard deviations are given for two data sets, combined Standard deviation of new data set can be obtained. Thus, it is a suitable measure for other algebraic manipulations.
- It is widely used as basic measure in higher study of Statistics.
Disadvantages of Standard Deviation:
- Its computation is difficult as compared to other measures of dispersion.
- Extreme observations enjoy more weightage in its computations.
- It is not easy to understand for a common man.
- It cannot be obtained for the open-ended frequency distribution.
