Which reason best explains why standard deviation is defined using squared deviations instead of absolute deviations?
(a) Because absolute deviations cannot be used when data contain negative values.
(b) Squaring removes negative signs and gives greater weight to larger departures, making algebraic manipulation easier.
(c) Because without squaring, the deviations would cancel out to zero, so spread cannot be measured.
(d) Because squaring ensures that the standard deviation has the same units as the original data.