standardDeviation(list)

Overview

The standardDeviation function calculates the sample standard deviation (SD) of a given list of numbers. The standard deviation is a measure of the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values.

Parameters

Parameter Name	Type	Description	Required	Default Value
list	table	A list of numerical values for which the standard deviation will be calculated. The list must contain at least two numerical values.	Yes	N/A

Returns

Type	Description	Possible Values
number	The sample standard deviation of the elements in the list. The return value will be a floating-point number.	Any numerical value

Constraints

• The list parameter must be a table containing numerical values only.
• The table must have at least two elements; otherwise, the function will return 0 as there's not enough data to calculate the standard deviation.
• It finds the sample SD, not population SD.

Example Use

local myList = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

-- The standard deviation of the list {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} will be calculated
local result = StatBook.standardDeviation(myList)

-- Output will be the calculated standard deviation
print(result)