CFA® Program exam: calculator tutorial for Mean, Standard Deviation, and Standard Error

The exams are around the corner – do you know your stuff? This series of posts in the month leading up to the exam will cover revision tips, summaries and must-knows for students to make sure they’re thoroughly prepared.

We recap step-by-step how to use your Texas Instrument BA II Plus financial calculator during the exam to quickly obtain the Mean, Standard Deviation, and Standard Error values.

Sample Problem:

Step-by-step:

[2nd] [7]

[2nd] [CE|C]

Enter all values in the data set:

X01 = 10

[ENTER] [↓] [↓]

X02 = 20

[ENTER] [↓] [↓]

X03 = -8 …etc.

[2nd] [8]

[↓] [↓]

“x bar” = sample mean

[↓]

“Sx” = sample standard deviation

Divide that by the square root of n (n, number of data points, = 10)

x bar = 1.7

s = 8.957306143

standard error = s/square root n = 8.957306143/10 = 2.83255

About the Author

Darren Degraaf, CFA, CPA, MBA, MAFM, PRM, is the AB Maximus CFA trainer for exam preparation. He is currently adjunct professor of the Sauder School of Business in the University of British Columbia and director of Instructional Management for the Stalla Review for the CFA Exams Division of DeVry University. Before an international career in CFA exam prep, he worked in HSBC for almost 20 years. Darren Degraaf, CFA, CPA, MBA, MAFM, PRM, is the revision expert in AB Maximus' CFA® Program exam prep course. He is currently adjunct professor of the Sauder School of Business in the University of British Columbia and director of Instructional Management for the Stalla Review for the CFA Exams Division of DeVry University. Before an international career in CFA® Program exam prep, he worked in HSBC for almost 20 years.