The mean absolute deviation of a data set is the average distance of each data point from the mean. Like variance, the mean absolute deviation is a measure of how densely packed a dataset is. A small mean absolute deviation points to a data set that does not deviate, or differ, very much from the mean. A large mean absolute deviation indicates a data set that is spread out, with many different distances from the mean. Along with other measures like standard deviation and variance, the mean absolute deviation helps to give viewers an understanding of how the data is distributed relative to the mean.