CHEPTER 3

MEASURES OF DISPERSION

EXERCISE # 3
BY SHAHID MEHMOOD [email protected]

DISPERSION

The dispersion is defined as the scatter or spread of the values from one another or from
some common value.

MEASURES OF DISPERSION

The measures use to find the dispersion are called measure of dispersion or measures of
variation.

TYPES OF MEASURES OF DISPERSION

1. Absolute Measures of Dispersion.

2. Relative Measures of Dispersion.

ABSOLUTE MEASURES OF DISPERSION

Absolute measures of dispersion are one which gives the amount of dispersion in the
same unit as the unit of observations. For example, if the observations are in kg, the
amount of dispersion is also in kg.

RELATIVE MEASURES OF DISPERSION

Relative measures of Dispersion are free from units and amount of dispersion is express
in percentage or ratios.

TYPES OF ABSOLUTE MEASURES OF DISPERSION

The most common absolute measures of dispersion are:

i. The range.
ii. The semi-interquartile range or quartile deviation.
iii. The mean deviation
iv. The standard deviation; and
v. The variance.

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CHEPTER 3
MEASURES OF DISPERSION

EXERCISE # 3
BY SHAHID MEHMOOD [email protected]

TYPES OF RELATIVE MEASURES OF DISPERSION

The most common absolute measures of dispersion are:

i. The coefficient of range.
ii. The coefficient of semi-interquartile range or quartile deviation.
iii. The coefficient of mean deviation
iv. The coefficient of standard deviation; and
v. The coefficient of variance.

THE RANGE

The range is the simplest measures of dispersion. It is defined as the difference between
the largest value and the smallest value in the data. Symbolically, it is given by

R = L– S
Where L = Largest value
S = Smallest Value

RANGE FOR GROUPED DATA

The range for grouped data may, therefore, be defined as the difference between the
upper class boundary of the highest class and the lower class boundary of the lowest
class.

THE COEFFICIENT OF RANGE

The relative measure of range is called coefficient of range and is given by the formula:

Coefficient of range = L – S *100

L+ S

THE MEAN DEVIATION

The mean deviation is defined as the average of the deviations of the values from an
average. (e.g. the mean, median or the mode); the deviations are taken without
considering algebraic signs. Thus, the mean deviation of a set of n values X1, X2, …Xn is
given by

M.D = Σ | X – X 1
n

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CHEPTER 3
MEASURES OF DISPERSION

EXERCISE # 3
BY SHAHID MEHMOOD [email protected]

THE MEAN DEVIATION FROM GROUPED DATA

If X1, X2, …Xn are the classes marks with f1, f2,….fn as the corresponding class
frequencies, the mean deviation is given by

∑ |x−x|
MD = n
∑ f |x−x|
MD = ∑f
VARIANCE

The arithmetic mean of squared deviations of the values taken from arithmetic mean is
called variance. Sample variance is denoted by S2 and is given by the formula;
S2

(i) S2 = Σ (X – X)2
n
(ii) S2 = Σ X2 - (Σ X ) 2
n n
THE VARIANCE FROM GROUPED DATA

If X1, X2, …Xn are the classes marks with f1, f2,….fn as the corresponding class
frequencies, the variance is given by:

(i) S2 = Σf (X – X)2
Σf
(ii) S2 = Σf X2 - (ΣfX ) 2
n n
STANDARD DEVIATION
The positive square root of variance is called standard deviation and sample standard
deviation is denoted by S and is given by

(i) S = √ Σ (X – X)2
n

(ii) S =√ Σ X2 - (Σ X ) 2
n n

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CHEPTER 3
MEASURES OF DISPERSION

EXERCISE # 3
BY SHAHID MEHMOOD [email protected]

THE STANDARD DEVIATION FROM GROUPED DATA

If X1, X2, …Xn are the classes marks with f1, f2,….fn as the corresponding class
frequencies, the standard deviation is given by:
(i) S = √ Σf (X – X)2
Σf
(ii) S =√ Σf X2 - (ΣfX ) 2
n n

Question # 1

For the following measurements:

26,17,24,26,29,21,33,31,29,27
Compute:

(a) Range.
(b) Coefficient of Range.
(c) Mean Deviation.
(d) Coefficient of Mean Deviation.

Ans. (a) 16 (b) 32% (c) 3.5 (d) 13.30%

Question # 2

Find range and coefficient of range from the following frequency distribution:
X 2 4 6 8 10
F 3 10 25 45 27

Ans: 8, 66.7%

Question # 3

The weight distribution of apple is given below.

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CHEPTER 3
MEASURES OF DISPERSION

EXERCISE # 3
BY SHAHID MEHMOOD [email protected]

Weights(gram 65-84 85-104 105-124 125-144 145-164 165-184

)
No. of apple 9 10 17 10 8 6

Find
(i) Range.
(ii) Coefficient of range.

Ans: (i) 120 (ii) 48.22%

Question # 4

From the data given below,

3.4, 1.8, 1.4, 3.6, 1.8, 3.7, 3.4, 2.9, 4.2, 2.8.
Calculate

(a) Range.
(b) Coefficient of Range.
(c) Mean Deviation.
(d) Coefficient of Mean Deviation

Ans.(a) 2.8 (b) 50% (c) 0.76 (d) 26.20%

Question # 5

Distribution of marks obtained by 100 candidates in an Mathematics and Statistics

examination is given below.

Marks Obtained No. of Students

10-24 10
25-39 16
40-54 23
55-69 29
70-84 16
85-99 6

Calculate
(a) Range.
(b) Coefficient of Range.

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CHEPTER 3
MEASURES OF DISPERSION

EXERCISE # 3
BY SHAHID MEHMOOD [email protected]

(c) Mean Deviation.

(d) Coefficient of Mean Deviation

Ans.(a) 89 (b) 81.65% (c) 17.12 (d) 32%

Question # 6

For the following frequency distribution:

Interval Frequency
11-15 1
16-20 2
21-25 5
26-30 1
31-35 1

Calculate:
(a) Mean Deviation.
(b) Coefficient Of Mean Deviation.

Ans. (a) 3.7 (b) 16.44%

Question # 7

Calculate variance for the following sample values:

9, 42, 18, 53, 5, 38, 27, 30, 62, 16

Ans.352.89.

Question # 8

The price earning ratio for 12 computer companies are recorded below:
26.5, 18.8, 8.6, 12.6, 29.4, 23.6
35.5, 19.0, 38.6, 14.3, 20.1, 10.7.
Calculate
(a) Mean.
(b) Variance.

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CHEPTER 3
MEASURES OF DISPERSION

EXERCISE # 3
BY SHAHID MEHMOOD [email protected]

(c) Standard Deviation.

(d) Coefficient of Variation.

Ans. (a) 21.47 (b) 92 (c) 9.6 (d) 44.6%

Question # 9

The number of breakdowns per day in a factory are recorded for seven days in each of
two months as:
June July
4 11
10 4
9 3
0 2
0 3
8 0
3 3

Which month exhibits more variability(maximum value of standard daviation) .

Question # 8

The following are the number of defective bolts produced by two machines:

Machine A Machine B
2 3
4 7
6 0
5 2
8 11
10 9
1 7
3 1
6 8

Which machine showing the more consistent performance(lesser standard deviation)?

Ans. Machine A

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CHEPTER 3
MEASURES OF DISPERSION

EXERCISE # 3
BY SHAHID MEHMOOD [email protected]

Question # 9

An analysis of weekly wages paid to workers in two firms A and B belonging to the same
industry gives the following results:

Firm A Firm B
Number of workers 586 648
Average Weekly Wages (x) 1252 1175
Variance (s2) 960 875

(a) Which firm pays out larger amount of weekly wages?

(b) What is the average weekly wage of all the workers in the two firms?
(c) In which firm there is greater variability in individual wages?
Ans. (a) Firm B
Total amount of firm a=586*1252=733672
Total amount of firm b=648*1175=761400

(b) 1211.57
Mean of all workers in two firms=(1252+1175)/2
(d) Firm B
CV(A)=S/mean*100
CV(B)=S/mean*100

Question # 10

Coefficient of variation of two series are 58% and 69% , their standard deviations are
21.2 and 15.6 respectively. What are their arithmetic means?

Ans:36.55 , 22.6

Question # 12

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CHEPTER 3
MEASURES OF DISPERSION

EXERCISE # 3
BY SHAHID MEHMOOD [email protected]

The administrator of a hospital conducted a survey of the number of days patient stayed
in the hospital following an operation. The date are given below:
Stay in days Number of patients
1-3 32
4-6 108
7-9 67
10-12 28
13-15 14
16-18 7
19-21 3
22-24 1

Calculate
(a) Mean.
(b) Variance.
(c) Standard Deviation.
(d) Coefficient of Variation.
(e) Interpret the mean and coefficient of variation..

Ans. (a) 7.1 (b) 14.97 (c) 3.87 (d) 54.5%

Question # 13

A manufacturing company owns two plants which manufacture the same product. The
weekly output of the two plants for the past 5 years was as follows:

Weekly Out put Number Of weeks

(In 1000 units) Plant I Plant II
11-15 10 15
16-20 15 20
21-25 135 60
26-30 65 150
31-35 35 15

Which of the two plants give more stable production during the period?
Give reason.

Ans.: Plant II gives more stable production.

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CHEPTER 3
MEASURES OF DISPERSION

EXERCISE # 3
BY SHAHID MEHMOOD [email protected]

Question # 14

Talent, Ltd., a Hollywood casting company, is selecting a group of extras for a movie.
The ages of the first 20 men to be interviewed are

50 56 55 49 52 57 56 57 56 59
54 55 61 60 51 59 62 52 54 49

The director of the movie wants men whose ages are fairly tightly grouped around 55
years. Being a statistics buff of sorts, the director suggests that a standard deviation of 3
years would be acceptable. Does this group of extras qualify?

Question # 15

The university has decided to test three new kinds of light bulbs. The have three identical
rooms to use in the experiment. Bulb 1 has an average lifetime of 1470 hours and a
variance of 156. Bulb 2 has an average lifetime of 1400 ours and a variance of 81. Bulb 3
has an average lifetime of 1350 hours and standard deviation of 6 hours. Calculate CV in
each of the above cases in terms of relative variability. Which was the best bulb?

Question # 16

Students ages in the regular daytime MBA program and the evening program of Central
University are described by these two samples:

Regular MBA Evening MBA

21 35
23 22
22 40
25 25
28 30
26 38
23 45

Use a measure of relative variability to suggest which of the two groups will be easier to
teach.

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