"What is bond duration?"

Duration measures how sensitive the bond or bond fund is to changes in interest rates or quality. It is one measure of the riskiness of a bond or bond fund. Bonds with a longer duration, higher number, will be more volatile. Duration can be calculated and is dependent on the coupon rate, yield to maturity and length of time to the bond matures. Bonds that have a lower coupon rate, longer maturity and higher yield to maturity will have a longer duration and their price will be more volatile. Bond prices are inversely related to market interest rates. That is, for a similar term bond, prices will decrease when interest rates rise. A bond with a duration of 2 would be expected to lose 2% of its value if interest rates were to increase by 1%.

You can find duration data at Morningstar and other bond market providers. Want more information? Check out Investopedia for a more detailed explanation.