deviance
deviance Lexical Profile
deviance Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The state or quality of departing from usual or accepted standards, especially in social, moral, or behavioral contexts.
"The sociology course examines how different cultures define and respond to social deviance."
A goodness-of-fit statistic for a statistical model that measures the discrepancy between observed values and values expected under the model.
"The researcher calculated the residual deviance to evaluate how well the logistic regression model fit the data."
Word Nuance & Usage
While 'deviation' refers neutrally to any departure from a standard, path, or statistical mean, 'deviance' typically carries a negative sociological or moral connotation of violating established social norms.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from Late Latin 'deviantia', from 'deviare' meaning 'to turn aside or go out of the way', formed from 'de-' (from) and 'via' (road or way).