CHAPTER 4:

M EASURES OF DISPERSION
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M easur es of di sper si on ar e descr i pt i ve st at i st i cs t hat
descr i be how si mi l ar a set of scor es ar e t o each ot her.
M easur es of di spersi on ar e i mpor t ant f or descr i bi ng
t he spr ead of t he dat a, or i t s var i at i on around a cent ral
val ue.
M easur es of di spersi on hel p us t o underst and t he
spr ead or var i abi l i t y of a set of dat a. It gi ves addi t i onal
i nf or mat i on t o j udge t he r el i abi l i t y of t he measur e of
cent ral t endency and hel ps i n compar i ng di spersi on
t hat i s pr esent i n var i ous sampl es.
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Ther e ar e sever al common measur es of di sper si on. Ther e ar e:
r ange
i nt er quar t i l e r ange
semi -i nt er quar t i l e r ange (quar t i l e devi at i on)
mean devi at i on (aver age absol ut e devi at i on)
Var i ance
st andar d devi at i on
coef f i ci ent of var i at i on.
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Range
Ungr oup dat a
The r ange i s t he di f f er ence bet ween t he hi gh and l ow scor e i n
a di st r i but i on.
Exampl e 1 : 3 , 7, 8, 2, 9
Det er mi ne t he l ar gest val ue : 9
Det er mi ne t he l owest val ue : 2
Range : l ar gest val ue l owest val ue
Range = 9 2
= 7
Range = l ar gest val ue smal l est val ue
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Gr oup Dat a
Exampl e 2:
Det er mi ne t he upper boundar y of t he hi ghest cl ass = 21.5
Det er mi ne t he l ower boundar y of t he l owest cl ass = 1.5
Range = 21.5 1.5
= 20
Cl ass Int er val Fr equency
2 5 4
6 9 4
10 13 20
14 17 10
18 - 21 2
Range = Upper boundar y of t he hi ghest cl ass Lower boundar y of t he l owest cl ass
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Int er quar t i l e Range
Ungr oup Dat a
Exampl e 3 : 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15
Posi t i on of f i r st quar t i l e, =
= 2 t h or der ed obser vat i ons
Ther ef or e, usi ng r ul e (c) Q
1
i s appr oxi mat el y t he second or der ed obser vat i ons.
Q
1
= 5
Posi t i on of t hi r d quar t i l e =
= 6 t h or der ed obser vat i ons
Theref ore, usi ng r ul e (c), Q
3
i s approxi mat el y t he si xt h ordered obser vat i ons.
Q
3
= 12
Int erquar t i l e Range = Q3 Q1
= 12 5
= 7
Int er quar t i l e Range = Q3 Q1
4
1
1
+

n
Q
( )
4
1 7 +
( )
4
1 3
3
+

n
Q
( )
4
1 7 3 +
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Gr oup Dat a
Int er quar t i l e Range = Q3 Q1
Class Interval Frequency Cumulative frequency
20 30 4 4
31 41 8 12
42 52 18 30
53 63 17 47
64 74 16 63
75 85 11 74
86 96 5 79
97 - 107 7 86
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Ident i f y t he l ocat i on or posi t i on of t he f i r st and t hi r d quar t i l es

,
_

,
_

4
86
4
1
f
Q = 21.5
( )
( )
4
86 3
4
3
3


f
Q
= 64.5
The val ues of Q
1
and Q
3
ar e as f ol l ows:
1
1
1 1
4
c
f
f
f
L Q
mo
1
1
1
1
]
1

3 . 47
11
18
12
4
86
5 . 41

1
1
1
1
]
1

,
_

+
( )
3
3
3 3
4
3
c
f
f
f
L Q
mo
1
1
1
1
]
1

( )
11
11
63
4
86 3
5 . 74
3
1
1
1
1
]
1

+ Q
= 76
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Int er quar t i l e Range = Q3 Q1
= 76 47.3
= 28.7
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Semi -i nt er quar t i l e r ange (Quar t i l e devi at i on)
Ungr oup Dat a
Exampl e 3 : 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15
Quartile deviation = (Q
3
Q
1
)
= (12 5)
= 3.5
Quartile deviation = (Q
3
Q
1
)
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Class Interval Frequency Cumulative frequency
20 30 4 4
31 41 8 12
42 52 18 30
53 63 17 47
64 74 16 63
75 85 11 74
86 96 5 79
97 - 107 7 86
Gr oup Dat a
Example 4:
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Quartile deviation = (Q
3
Q
1
)
= (76 47.3)
= 14.35
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M ean Devi at i on
M ean devi at i on i s cal cul at ed by summi ng up t he di f f er ence
bet ween each obser vat i on and mean. Thi s val ue i s t hen di vi ded by
t he number of obser vat i on.
Ungr oup Dat a
x = dat a i n a di st r i but i on
= mean
n = number of obser vat i ons
x
M ean Devi at i on :
( )
n
x x

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Exampl e 5: 20, 30, 40, 10, 50
Fi nd mean, :
M ean devi at i on =
(Ignor e t he negat i ve j ust f or mean devi at i on)
( ) x
30
5
50 10 40 30 20

+ + + +
( )
n
x x

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
12
5
30 50 30 10 30 40 30 30 30 20

+ + + +

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Gr oup Dat a
M ean Devi at i on :
( )

f
x x f
x = mi dpoi nt
= mean
f = f r equency
x
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Exampl e 6 :
Class interval f x fx
0 5 4 2.5 10 4(2.5 14.8) = 49.2
6 11 4 8.5 34 4(8.5 14.8) = 25.2
12 17 20 14.5 290 20(14.5 14.8) = 6
18 23 10 20.5 205 10(20.5 14.8) = 57
24 - 29 2 26.5 53 2 (26.5 14.8) = 23.4

40 f

592 fx ( )

8 . 160 x x f
( ) x x f
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M ean ,
=
M ean devi at i on =
=

f
fx
x
8 . 14
40
592

( )

f
x x f
02 . 4
40
8 . 160

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Var i ance and St andar d Devi at i on
Bot h st andar d devi at i on and var i ance measur e how f ar on average scor es
devi at e or di f f er f r om t he mean. In t hi s way, we use al l t he val ues i n our
dat a t o comput e var i abi l i t y, and out l i er s wi l l not have undue i nf l uence.
The st andar d devi at i on i s t he measur ement of spr ead ar ound t he mean.
Because of i t s cl ose l i nks wi t h t he mean, st andar d devi at i on can be gr eat l y
af f ect ed i f t he mean gi ves a poor measur e of cent ral t endency
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Ungr ouped Dat a
a) Var i ance

2
or
2
b) St andar d Devi at i on
or
( )
1
2

n
x x
( )
1
1
]
1

n
x
x
n
2
2
1
1
( )
1
2

n
x x
( )

,
_

n
x
x
n
2
2
1
1
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Exampl e 7: 5, 2, 1, 7
75 . 3
4
7 1 2 5

+ + +
x
Var i ance:
2
( )
1
2

n
x x
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
1 4
75 . 3 7 75 . 3 1 75 . 3 2 75 . 3 5
2 2 2 2

+ + +

3
56 . 10 56 . 7 06 . 3 56 . 1 + + +
= 7.58
Standard Deviation:
2 ( )
1
2

n
x x
75 . 2 58 . 7
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Gr ouped Dat a
a) Var i ance

2
or
b) St andar d Devi at i on
or
( ) [ ]

2
1
1
x x f
f

2 ( )
1
1
]
1

f
fx
fx
f
2
2
1
1
( ) [ ]

2
1
1
x x f
f
( )
1
1
]
1

f
fx
fx
f
2
2
1
1
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Exampl e 8:
Class interval f x fx
2 5 4 3.5 14
6 9 4 7.5 30
10 13 20 11.5 230
14 -17 10 15.5 155
18 - 21 2 19.5 39
( ) 96 . 268 7 . 11 5 . 3 4
2

( ) 56 . 70 7 . 11 5 . 7 4
2

( ) 8 . 0 7 . 11 5 . 11 20
2

( ) 4 . 144 7 . 11 5 . 15 10
2

( ) 68 . 121 7 . 11 5 . 19 2
2

( )
2
x x f
( )

4 . 606
2
x x f

40 f

468 fx
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7 . 11
40
468
Mean

2
( ) [ ]

2
1
1
x x f
f

2
[ ] 4 . 606
1 40
1

So, st andar d devi at i on ()

5 . 15
= 3.94
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Coef f i ci ent Of Var i at i on , CV (Rel at i ve Di sper si on)
When compar i ng di st r i but i ons of di f f er ent means and var i ances, a usef ul
measur e i s t he coef f i ci ent of var i at i on (CV).
The coef f i ci ent of var i at i on gi ves us t he rat i o of t he st andar d devi at i on t o
t he ar i t hmet i c mean expr essed as a per cent .
CV = st andar d devi at i on x 100
mean
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Skew ness
The concept of skewness hel p us t o under st and t he r el at i onshi p bet ween
t hr ee measur e; mean, medi an and mode.
A di st r i but i on can be symmet r i c, skewed t o t he r i ght or skewed t o t he l ef t .
i ) In a set of dat a, i f t he mode i s gr eat er t han t he mean, i t means t hat
t her e ar e mor e obser vat i ons ar e bi gger t han t he mean wher eby t he
smal l er val ues ar e mor e wi del y spr ead. The di st r i but i on i s negat i vel y-
skewed or skewed t o t he l ef t .
mean medi an mode
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i i ) However, i f t he mean i s gr eat er t han mode,
t he di st r i but i on i s skewed t o t he r i ght or posi t i vel y-skewed.
mode medi an mean
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i i i ) If t he mean, medi an and mode ar e equal and t he di st r i but i on i s equal l y
spr ead on bot h si des of t he mean, t hen i t i s sai d t o be symmet r i cal . The
di st r i but i on i s usual l y bel l -shaped.
Mean
Median
Mode
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Pear sons Coef f i ci ent of Skew ness (PCS)
Ther e ar e t wo f or mul as t o cal cul at e t he measur ement of
skewness:
i )
i i )
Pear sons Coef f i ci ent of Skew ness 1(PCS 1) = M ean M ode
St andar d Devi at i on
Pear sons Coef f i ci ent of Skew ness 2(PCS 2) = 3( M ean M edi an)
St andar d Devi at i on
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If skewness = 0, t he di st r i but i on i s symmet r i cal . If i t i s
posi t i ve, t he di st r i but i on i s skewed t o t he r i ght or posi t i vel y-
skew ed. If t he skewness i s negat i ve, t he di st r i but i on i s
skewed t o t he l ef t or negat i vel y-skew ed.
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