A frequency distribution that results in a bell-shaped curve and indicates relative standing within a comparison group of interest refers to which of the following?

A frequency distribution that produces a bell-shaped curve is characteristic of a normal distribution. This type of distribution is symmetric around the mean, meaning that most of the observations cluster around the central peak and the probabilities for values deviate symmetrically from the mean.

In a normal distribution, the shape of the curve indicates how data points are spread out around the mean, allowing for the identification of relative standing within a group. For instance, in a normally distributed set of test scores, one can assess how a particular score compares to the overall group performance, thus providing valuable insights into individual performance relative to peers.

The other options, while related to statistical analysis, do not describe this specific scenario. The standard deviation measures the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values but does not describe the shape of the frequency distribution itself. Cumulative frequency refers to a running total of frequencies and provides a way to understand the distribution of data but lacks the bell-shaped aspect. Variance measures the spread of a set of numbers but is essentially the square of the standard deviation and does not characterize the distribution's shape. Hence, the term that best describes a frequency distribution with a bell-shaped curve is a normal distribution.