LABORATORY #4 MEASURES OF VARIABILITY (GROUP FD) & STANDARD SCORES

PART I. In simple terms, the standard deviation provides a measure of the standard, or
average, distance from the mean and describes whether the scores are clustered closely
around the mean or are widely scattered. It uses the mean as the reference point; the larger
the SD, the more scattered the scores are. To compute for the SD, please refer to the
example below:
X = 10, 10, 10, 20, 20, 20, 30, 30, 40, 50

Step 1: Make a frequency distribution table and compute for the mean ().
X f fX
50 1 50
40 1 40
30 2 60
20 3 60
10 3 30
∑ fX
μ=
n
n = 10
μ=
𝛍 = 𝟐𝟒
Step 2: Compute each individual X using the formula (X − μ); this will determine how far away
each of them is from the mean. The negative (–) sign tells you that it is below the mean,
while the positive (+) sign tells you that the score is above the mean. See the examples
below:
X f fX ̅X or μ 𝑋 − 𝑋̅
50 1 50 24 50-24 = 26
40 1 40 24 40-24 = 16
30 2 60 24 30–24 = 6
20 3 60 24 20-24 = -4
10 3 30 24 10-24 = -14
Step 3: Squared each score under the column 𝑋 − 𝑋̅.
X f fX ̅X or μ 𝑋 − 𝑋̅ (𝑋 − 𝑋̅)2
50 1 50 24 26 676
40 1 40 24 16 256
30 2 60 24 6 36
20 3 60 24 -4 16
10 3 30 24 -14 196
Step 4: Multiply each score from the table (𝑋 − 𝑋̅)2 to the f column. Then, sum all of the
resulting values.
X f fX ̅X or μ 𝑋 − 𝑋̅ (𝑋 − 𝑋̅)2 f  (𝑋 − 𝑋̅)2
50 1 50 24 26 676 676
40 1 40 24 16 256 256
30 2 60 24 6 36 72
20 3 60 24 -4 16 48
10 3 30 24 -14 196 588
2
∑ 𝑓 ∙ (𝑋 − 𝑋̅) = 1640

Step 5: Divide the resulting value by n. The resulting value is called the variance.

𝟏𝟔𝟒

Step 6: To get the standard deviation, we have to get the square root of the variance.

𝑆𝐷 𝑜𝑟 𝜎 . 𝟖𝟎
The standard deviation of the data set above is  = 12.80. For your laboratory activity,
kindly do the steps above using the following data sets. You have to get these data sets'
mean, variance, and standard deviation along with their respective frequency distribution
tables.

1. X = 10, 11, 11, 12, 13, 13, 14, 15, 15

2. X = 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9

Part II. Standard scores are used to tell a score's exact location from a normal curve
distribution. It is also used to make scores more interpretable and comparable with another
set of measures. Z-scores and T-scores are the most commonly used standard scores in the
field of psychometrics. 1. To compute for the z-score, we use this formula: 𝑧 = 𝑋 −𝜇
or 𝑧
𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 − 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛
= 𝜎 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣.

Example 1: What is the z-score of X = 9 if the  = 5 and the  = 2?

𝑋−𝜇 7−5
𝑧= == 2
𝜎 2
Example 2: What is the z-score of X = 20 if the  = 40 and the  = 10?
𝑋−𝜇 20 − 40
𝑧= = = −2
𝜎 10
2. Now, we can easily compute for the T-score using the formula: 𝑡 = 𝑧(10) + 50; where z is
the z-score.

Example 1: What is the t-score of X = 9 if the  = 5 and the  = 2?

𝑋 − 𝜇 7−5

Step 1: 𝑧 = = =2
𝜎 2

Step 2: 𝑡 = 2(10) + 50 = 70

Example 2: What is the z-score of X = 20 if the  = 40 and the  = 10?

𝑋 − 𝜇 20−40

Step 1: 𝑧 = =
= −2 𝜎 10

Step 2: 𝑡 = −2(10) + 50 = 30
The resulting values are called the standard scores. To get the t-score, we must first compute
for the z-score using the mean and standard deviation of a data set. For you to practice the
conversion of scores, compute for the following data below and find their corresponding
zscores and t-scores.

1. X = 34 4. X = 50  = 40
 = 30
 = 15  = 20
z=? z=?T
=? T=?

2. X = 20 5. X = 70  = 10
 = 30  = 8
 = 35 z = ?
z=?
T=? T=?

3. X = 25  = 15
 = 10
z=?
T=?