Varun SharmaMBB

Standard deviation is certainly more accurate measure of dispersion however the application of Standard Deviation is preferred in scenarios when the data are normally distributed as it is extremely sensitive to outlier observations (due to squaring of 'difference from the mean' in numerator). This is the reason that Stdv is used along with simple mean. Another yet effective way of measuring dispersion is Mean absolute deviation which is sometimes used in studies as standard deviation is slightly more complex to comprehend. Range and Interquatile range are more applicable when the data are non normal.