MEASURES OF VARIABILITY

RANGE, VARIANCE AND STANDARD DEVIATION

VARIABILITY

Refers to extent to which the scores on a quantitative variable in a

distribution are spread out.

Table 1: Score of Two Groups of Pupils

Group A Group B

Pupil Score Grade Pupil Score Grade

Alex 100 A Joy 84 C+

Ben 90 B Helen 83 C+

Candy 80 C+ Lyn 80 C+

Doris 75 C Noel 78 C

Ellen 55 F May 75 C

Solution:
Group A Group B
Σx=400 Σx=400

N=5 N=5

X=400/5 X=400/5

Md=80 Md=80
THE RANGE (R)

The range is the simplest measure of dispersion.

Range = highest score – lowest score

THE QUARTILE DEVIATION

Its measurement is taken by getting one-half of the difference between Q3

and Q1 .

INTERQUARTILE RANGE

Is the difference between P75 and P25 .

Table 2:Score Distribution of the First Year BSED in ZCSPC

Score Number of Students Percentage

89-95 8 4.00

82-88 16 8.00

75-81 22 11.00

68-74 29 14.50

61-67 44 22.00

54-60 32 16.00

47-53 23 11.50

40-46 19 9.50

33-39 7 3.50

Total 200 100.00

Solution:

P25 = Q1 = 53.72 P75 = Q3 = 73.53

Interquartile Range = P75 - P25

= 73.53 – 53.72

= 18.81

Quartile Deviation = ½ (Q3 - Q1 )

= ½ ( 18.81)

= 9.405

THE MEAN ABSOLUTE DEVIATION

The mean absolute deviation considers the variation of the individual

scores in a distribution.

This measurement is equal to the summation of the of the absolute value

of the difference between each score and the mean divided by the number of

scores.
Table 3 :Gross Sales (in 100-thousands) Made by Four Medical Representatives

During the First Six Months of 2018

Mean
Medical
Jan. Feb. March April May June Mean Absolute
Representative
Deviation

Reyner 6 5 9 2 8 3 5.50 2.160

Ricky 4 5 4 4 4 5 4.33 0.443

Riane 3 8 6 2 9 2 5.00 2.670

R-jean 7 3 6 9 2 5 5.33 2.000

Sample Calculation of Mean Absolute Deviation

Med. Rep. Reyner X- X |X–X|

6 6 – 5.5 0.5

5 5 – 5.5 0.5

9 9 – 5.5 3.5

2 2 – 5.5 3.5

8 8 – 5.5 2.5

2.5
3 3 – 5.5
13.0
Mean Absolute deviation

Σ |x – x |
MAD =
N

= 13.0
6
= 2.167

THE VARIANCE (UNGROUPED DATA)

The variance is a measure of variability that considers the position of each

observation relative to the of the set of scores.

It is derived by getting the sum of the squared deviations from the mean

and divided by N.

The Formulas for Ungrouped Data

a. Population Variance (Ơ2 ) = Σ ( x – μ)2

N
where:

x= score

μ= population mean

N= population size

b. Sample Variance (S2 ) = Σ ( x – x)2

n- 1

where:

x= score

x= sample mean

n= sample size
THE STANDARD DEVIATION (UNGROUPED DATA)

Its is computed by extracting the square root of the variance.

Formulas for the Standard Deviation (Ungrouped Data)

a. Population Variance (Ơ ) =√ Σ ( x – μ)2

N

b. Sample Variance (S ) = √Σ ( x – x)2

n- 1

Example

A student was investigating the effect of synthetic fertilizer on the growth

of peanut seedlings, a random sample of those seedlings yielded the following

heights in inches. Find the mean, variance and standard deviation.

Mean = 48/8 Variance = 66/7

x=6 s2 = 9.43

Standard Deviation = √ 9.43

s = 3.07
 Table 4 Height of the Peanut Seedling (in inches)

x x- X (x- X)2

2 2 – 6 = -4 16

3 3 – 6 = -3 9

4 4 – 6 = -2 4

5 5 – 6 = -1 1

6 6–6=0 0

8 8–6=2 4

10 10 – 6 = 4 16

10 10 – 6 = 4 16

Σx = 48 Σ(x- X)2 = 66

STANDARD DEVIATION AND VARIANCE (GROUPED DATA)

Formulas:

Sample Variance

S2 = Σfm2 _ (Σfm)2

n-1 n(n-1)

Where:

f = corresponding frequency

m = class mark or midpoint of each class interval

n = sample size
Population Variance

ơ2 = Σfm2 _ (Σfm)2

n-1 n(n-1)

Where:

f = corresponding frequency

m = class mark or midpoint of each class interval

n = sample size

Sample Standard Deviation

S = Σfm2 _ (Σfm)2
n-1 n(n-1)

Population Standard Deviation

ơ = Σfm2 _ (Σfm)2
n-1 n(n-1)
 Table5

Computation of the Mean and Standard Deviation of the Ages of the Manager-

Respondents

12 Numbers of Midpoint fm fm2

Managers (f) (m)

53-57 9 55 495 27,225

48-52 27 50 1,350 67,500

43-47 30 45 1,350 60,750

38-42 35 40 1,400 56,000

33-37 29 35 1,015 35,525

28-32 15 30 450 13,500

23-27 5 25 125 3,125

N= 150 Σfm=6,185 Σfm2 =263,625

Mean = 6,185/150 Standard Deviation

μ = 41.23 = 263,625 _ (41.23)2

150

= √57.587

ơ = 7.589

SKEWNESS

refers to the symmetry or asymmetry of the frequency distribution.

Positively Skewed

If its tail extends farther to the right of the mode than it does to the left.
 30
20
10
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Negative Skewed

If its tail extends to the left of the mode than it does to the right.

25
20
15
10
5
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Pearsonian Coefficient of Skewness

Formula:

Sk = 3(mean – median)
Standard Deviation

Wherein a perfectly symmetrical distribution the value of Sk is 0, and in general,

its value must fall between -3 and 3.

 Sk value greater than 0 indicates that the symmetry polygon is

skewed to the right. While an Sk value that is less than 0 indicates

that the frequency polygon is skewed to the left.

KURTOSIS

Refers to the flatness or peakedness of one distribution in relation to

another.

Types of Kurtosis

1.Curve series1 = leptokurtic; K > 3

2.Curve series 2 = Mesokurtic; K = 3

3.Curve series 3 = Platykurtic; K < 3

Kurtosis formula for Ungrouped Data

K = Σ(x – X)2
n s4
where:

x = score

X = sample mean

n = sample size

s = standard deviation

Kurtosis Formula for Grouped Data

K = Σf(x – X)2
n s4

where:

f = corresponding frequency

x = class mark

X = sample mean

n = sample size

s = sample standard deviation

Example 5

Using the data below, solve for the skewness of the distributions

Data Group A Group B

Mean 72.12 67.10

Median 70.10 65.25

Standard Deviation 15.25 10.12

Solving for the skewness of the data:

Group A Group B

Sk = 3(72.12 – 70.10) Sk = 3(67.25 – 65.25)

15.25 15.25

Sk = 0.397 Sk = 0.548

The skewness value of group A is 0.397 while for group B is 0.548. Both

data show positive skewness, which means that both groups have low scores.

However, group A has lower skewness value than what the control group

received. This implies that the scores of group A are more dispersed than that of

group B.

Illustrative example of the computation of kurtosis

Frequency Midpoint
Score (x – X) (x – X) 4 f (X - (x – X) 4
(f) (x)

46-50 8 48 18.26 111,173.96 889,391.68

32-45 10 38.5 8.76 5,888.66 58,886.60

25-31 16 28 -1.74 9.17 146.72

11-24 12 17.5 -12.24 22,445.31 269,343.72

0-10 4 5 -24.74 374,626.75 1,498,507.00

n= 50 Σf (X - (x – X) 4 = 2,716,275.72

Mean = 29.74 SD = 13.00

kurtosis = 3,200,472.7
50 (13) 4

= 3,200472.7
50 (28,561)

= 2.24 (platykurtic)