In statistics, the absolute deviation of an element of a data set is the absolute difference between that element and a given point. Typically the point from which the deviation is measured is a measure of central tendency, most often the median or sometimes the mean of the data set.
where
- Di is the absolute deviation,
- xi is the data element
- and m(X) is the chosen measure of central tendency of the data set—sometimes the mean, but most often the median.
Read more about Absolute Deviation: Minimization, Estimation
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