What term describes the most commonly used measurement of score dispersion?

The term that describes the most commonly used measurement of score dispersion is standard deviation. Standard deviation quantifies the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values. In statistics, it provides insight into how spread out the values are in relation to the mean (average) of the dataset.

When data points are closely clustered around the mean, the standard deviation is low, indicating low dispersion. Conversely, when data points are widely spread out, the standard deviation is high, signaling greater variability among the scores. In practical applications, such as in appraisal and other fields involving data analysis, standard deviation is a crucial measure because it helps assess risk and variability in financial and performance metrics.

The other options, while important statistical measures, do not address score dispersion in the same way. The mean, median, and mode are measures of central tendency, which indicate where the center of a dataset lies, but they do not provide information about the spread or variability of the values within that dataset. By focusing on the concept of dispersion, standard deviation remains the primary measure used to understand how much individual scores differ from the average, making it essential in data analysis and appraisal practices.