The symbol used for the population standard deviation is σ (sigma).
In statistics, the population standard deviation quantifies the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values. It provides insight into how much the individual data points in a population typically differ from the population mean (average). Sigma is the Greek letter commonly used to denote this measure, which is particularly useful in formulas and mathematical expressions. The population standard deviation is calculated differently than the sample standard deviation, which uses a slightly different formula to account for the sample’s size. Understanding this distinction is crucial for proper data analysis and interpretation.