MEASURES OF

VARIATION
LESSON OBJECTIVES:
Determine the variation of a given
distribution thru its:
1. Range.
2. Mean Absolute Deviation(MAD).
3. Variance.
4. Standard Deviation.
5. Coefficient of Variation.
6. Quartile Deviation.
7. Percentile Range.
 VARIATION
INTRODUCTION

Events of nature vary from time to time. People keep on

changing their location, motion, physical appearance, skin
reaction to different chemicals, height, weight. hair color, eye
color, ideas, and even values in life. Usually, the heights of a
group of people with the same race tend to converge to a
certain common value. For example, if the mean height of
Filipino males is approximately 5 ft. and 6 in., then this means
that most Filipino male adults have heights that are clustering
about this value. The extent of clustering of the heights of the
Filipino males about a central value is known as VARIATION.
IMPORTANCE and CHARACTERISTICS
of VARIATION

Enables one to know how varied the observations are.

Finds extreme values in the observation.
Determine whether values in the distribution are very close
to each other.

If the measure of variation is zero (0), it means that there is

no variation at all, and the observations are all alike, or
homogeneous. Otherwise it will be heterogeneous.
 MEASURES of VARIATION
1. Range
2. Mean Absolute Deviation
3. Variance
4. Standard Deviation
5. Coefficient of Variation
6. Quartile Deviation
7. Percentile Range
 RANGE
1. RANGE:
The Range is the simplest form of measuring the variation of a
distribution. To get the range, subtract the lowest score or observation
from the highest score
R Highest Observation - Lowest Observation
Example:
A group of scientists went on an expedition to the mountain range in Sierra Madre,
Philippines to study thedifferent species of plants existing in that area.The ages of the
scientists are 34, 35, 45, 56, 32, 25, and 40. What is the range of their ages?
Solution :
Highest Age 56
Lowest Age 25
R Highest - Lowest
56 - 25
31
The range of their ages is 31.
 MEAN ABSOLUTE DEVIATION
If the size of the population or sample is large, the range is not a an excellent measure.If one
is interested in the position of each operation relative to the mean of the set of data, other
measuresof variation may be necessary.One such measureis the mean absolute deviation.
2. Mean AbsoluteDeviation (MAD)
To find the mean absolute deviation,subtract the mean score from each raw score, then
using the absolute values of the differences, get the sum sum of the results.The sum is called
the sum of the deviationsfrom the mean. Next, divide this sum by N, the total number of cases.
In symbols,

MAD
|x-x|
(for ungrouped data)
N
where MAD mean absolute deviation
x raw score
x mean score
N number of observations
MEAN ABSOLUTE DEVIATION

MAD
f |x - x |
(for grouped data)
N
where MAD mean absolute deviation
f frequency
x class mark
x mean score
N number of observatio ns
 VARIANCE
3. Variance
Variance is another measure of variation which can be used instead of the range. The
variance considers the deviation of each observatio n from the mean. To obtain the variance of
a distributi on, first, square the deviation from the mean of each raw score and add them together.
Then, divide the resulting sum by N or the total number of case.

a. Population Variance for Ungrouped Data

2N
(x - ) 2

N
where 2N population variance
x raw score
population mean
N number of observatio ns
VARIANCE
b. Sample Variance for Ungrouped Data

s 2N -1
(x - ) 2

N -1
where s 2N -1 sample variance
x raw score
population mean
N number of observations
VARIANCE
c. Population Variance for Grouped Data

N2
f (x - ) 2

N
where N2 population variance
f frequency
x class mark
population mean
N number of observations
VARIANCE
d. Sample Variance for Grouped Data

s N2 -1
N fx 2 - ( fx) 2
N(N-1 )
where s N2 -1 sample variance
f frequency
x class mark
N number of observations
Except when specified that the population variance is to be used, you will always
use the sample variance formula. in exercises.
 STANDARD DEVIATION

4. Standard Deviation
The standard deviation, for a population or s for sample, is the square root of the value
of the variance. In symbols,

a. Population Standard Deviation ( )

2N

b. Sample Standard Deviation ( s )

s s 2N -1
 COEFFICIENT OF VARIATION

5. Coefficien t of Variation
The coefficien t of variation , for a population or s for sample, is the square root of
the value of the variance. In symbols,

s
CV x100 %

where s standard deviation
mean
QUARTILE DEVIATION

6. Quartile Deviation
The quartile deviation is another wa y of determinin g the spread of a distributi on in
terms of quartiles. The quartile deviation formula is shown below :

Q 3 Q1
QD
2
where QD quartile deviation
Q 3 3rd Quartile
Q 1 1st Quartile
PERCENTILE DEVIATION

7. Percentile Range
The percentile range, PR, is the difference between th e 90th percentile (P90 ) and the
10th percentile (P10 ). In symbols,

PR P90 P10
where PR Percentile Range
P90 90th Percentile
P10 10th Percentile