Distribution

These averages only give a partial view of the sample. It is also important to know how the data is distributed each side of the mean.

If all three averages (mean, median and mode) are approximately the same and the data is spread symmetrical each side of them we can usually assume that the data shows a “normal distribution”.

Variation

The degree of variation in the data needs to be known if you want to be sure that your random sample represents the overall population of cells.
It is also important to know the degree of variation if you want to compare two samples from different places (e.g. the cells in an old leaf with the cells in a young leaf).

• Standard Deviation
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© Paul Billiet 2007