deviation

Deviation refers to the difference between an individual measurement or data point and the average or typical value of a dataset. It shows how much a specific value varies from the overall trend. For example, if most students score around 80% on a test, but one student scores 70%, that student's score deviates from the average by 10%. In statistics, analyzing deviations helps understand the spread or variability of data, indicating whether data points are closely clustered around the mean or widely dispersed.