What does standard deviation measure in a dataset?

Standard deviation is a statistical measure that quantifies the amount of variation or dispersion in a set of data values. When we refer to how much scores vary around the mean, we are essentially looking at how spread out the values are in relation to the average score. A low standard deviation indicates that the scores are close to the mean, while a high standard deviation indicates that the scores are spread out over a wider range of values.

In this context, central tendency, frequency of occurrence of each score, and total number of scores all pertain to different concepts in statistics. Central tendency helps us identify the average or typical value in a dataset, while frequency relates to how often each score appears. The total number of scores provides a count of entries in the dataset, but does not provide insight into their variation or distribution around the mean. Thus, focusing on how much scores vary around the mean encapsulates the fundamental role of standard deviation in understanding the dataset's variability.