Answer: The Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) is a measure of variability in a dataset. It is calculated by taking the mean of the absolute differences between each data point and the mean of the dataset. Here's how to calculate it for your data:
1. First, calculate the mean (average) of the dataset.
2. Then, subtract the mean from each data point to get the deviation of each point.
3. Take the absolute value of each deviation.
4. Finally, calculate the mean of these absolute deviations.
Let's calculate it for your data: 10, 12, 10, 8, 20, 10, 15, 18.
1. The mean of your data is: {10+12+10+8+20+10+15+18}{8} = 14.375$$
2. The deviations are: |-4.375|, |-2.375|, |-4.375|, |-6.375|, |5.625|, |-4.375|, |0.625|, |3.625|$$
3. The absolute deviations are: $$4.375, 2.375, 4.375, 6.375, 5.625, 4.375, 0.625, 3.625$$
4. The mean of these absolute deviations is: {4.375+2.375+4.375+6.375+5.625+4.375+0.625+3.625}{8} = 3.969$$
So, the Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) for your data is approximately 3.97 when rounded to two decimal places.