deviation; deflection; variation
Technical term used in statistics, engineering, and physics to describe the amount by which a value differs from a reference or expected value. Common in compounds like 標準偏差 (standard deviation).
Standard deviation is an indicator that shows the spread of data.
It is necessary to correct the deviation of this instrument.
His test score deviated greatly from the average.
The deviation in the measured values is large.
This data shows a positive deviation.
偏差 is the raw amount by which a value differs from a mean, whereas 偏差値 is a specific standardized score (used esp. for Japanese test rankings) calculated from that deviation.
Compound of 偏 (へん, 'biased, inclined') and 差 (さ, 'difference'). The term was likely coined in the Meiji period as a translation for Western scientific concepts like 'deviation'.