Standardization enables comparisons across variables measured in different units.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. It changes the underlying distribution.
• D. It converts data to ranks.

Answer: (B)

Standardization puts different variables on a common scale by converting them to z-scores: subtract the mean and divide by the standard deviation. This rescaling removes the original units, so each variable is expressed in standard deviation units with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1. On this common scale, comparisons across variables measured in different units become meaningful because you’re comparing them in the same metric rather than in their original, different units. The other statements don’t fit: standardization does not convert data to ranks, and while it’s a linear transformation that re-scales the data, its main purpose is to enable cross-unit comparisons rather than to change the distribution’s nature.