Measures of Dispersion Suppose you are given a data series. Someone asks you to tell some interesting facts about this data series. How can you do so? You can say you can find the mean, the median or the mode of this data series and tell about its distribution. But is it the only thing you can do? Are the central tendencies the only way by which we can get to know about the concentration of the observation? In this section, we will learn about another measure to know more about the data. Here, we are going to know about the measure of disper Measures of Dispersion ‘As the name suggests, the measure of dispersion shows the scatterings of the data, It tells the variation of the data from one another and gives a clear idea about the distribution of the data. ——_—————Eee Suppose you have four datasets of the same size and the mean is also same, say, m. In all the cases the sum of the observations will be the same, Here, the measure of central tendency is not giving a clear and complete idea about the distribution for the four given sets. Can we get an idea about the distribution if we get to know about the dispersion of the observations from one another within and between the datasets? The main idea about the measure of dispersion is to get to know how the data are spread. It shows how much the data vary from their average value. Characteristics of Measures of Dispersion (i) A measure of dispersion should be rigidly defined Gi) It must be easy to calculate and understand (iii) Not affected much by the fluctuations of observations (iv) Based on all observations (¥) Classification of Measures of Dispersion The measure of dispersion is categorized as: (i An absolute measure of dispersio The measures which express the scattering of observation in terms of distances ive., range, quartile deviation The measure which expresses the variations in terms of the average of deviations of observations like mean deviation and standard deviation. Gi) A relative measure of dispersion: We use a relative measure of dispersion for comparing distributions of two or more data set and for unit free comparison. They are the coefficient of range, the coefficient of mean deviation, the coefficient of quartile deviation, the coefficient of variation, and the coefficient of standard deviation.(® Some absolute measurement Range A range is the most common and easily understandable measure of dispersion, It is the difference between two extreme observations of the data set. If X max and X min are the two extreme X min Range = X max Merits of Range (i) Itis the simplest of the measure of dispersion (ii)Basy to calculate (iii) Easy to understand (iv) Independent of change of origin Demerits of Range (i) Itis based on two extreme observations. Hence, get affected by fluctuations (ii) A range is not a reliable measure of dispersion (iii) Dependent on change of scale Quartile Deviation The quartiles divide a data set into quarters. The first quartile, (Q)) is the middle number between the smallest number and the median of the data. The second quartile, (Qo) is the median of the data set. The third quartile, (Qs) is the middle number between the median and the largest number, Quartile deviation or semi-inter-quartile deviation is Q=(Q- Qy2 Merits of Quartile Deviation (j) All the drawbacks of Range are overcome by quartile deviation (ii) It uses half of the data (ii) Independent of change of origin (iv) The best measure of dispersion for open-end classification Demerits of Quartile Deviation (j) Itignores 50% of the data (ii) Dependent on change of scale ii) Not a reliable measure of dispersion Mean Deviation Mean deviation is the arithmetic mean of the absolute deviations of the observations from a measure of central tendency. If x, x2, ..., Xp are the of x from mean, median, or mode is of observation, then the mean deviation 1, Mean deviation from mean Zlze-312. Mean deviation from median I el 3. Mean deviation from mode xi For a grouped frequency, it is calculated as 1. Mean deviation from mean Lhilxi- >| n 2. Mean deviation from median Lfilxi-me n 3. Mean deviation from mode Lfilx; - mol n Here, xi and fj are respectively the mid value and the frequency of the ith class interval. Merits of Mean Deviation (i) Based on all observations Gi) It provides a minimum value when the deviations are taken from the median (iii) Independent of change of origin Demerits of Mean Deviation (i) Not easily understandable (ii) Its calculation is not easy and time-consuming ii) Dependent on the change of scale (iv) Ignorance of negative sign creates artificiality and becomes useless for further mathematical treatment, Standard Deviation A standard deviation is the positive square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of the deviations of the given values from their arithmetic mean, It is denoted by a Greek letter sigma, 6. It is also referred to as root mean square deviation. The standard deviation is given asFora grouped frequency distribution, it is Merits of Standard Deviation (i) Squaring the deviations overcomes the drawback of ignoring signs in mean deviations (ii) Suitable for further mathematical treatment (iii) Least affected by the fluctuation of the observations (iv) The standard deviation is zero if all the observations are constant (v) Independent of change of origin Demerits of Standard Deviation (i) Not easy to calculate Gi) Difficult to understand for a layman ii) Dependent on the change of scale (ii) Relative measurements: Coefficient of Dispersion Whenever we want to compare the variability of the two series which differ widely in their averages. Also, when the unit of measurement is different. We need to calculate the coefficients of dispersion along with the measure of dispersion. The coefficients of dispersion (C.D.) based on different measures of dispersion are (max -X min) (max + Xmin) @3-Qn) aan, Based on mean deviation = Mean deviation/average from which it is calculated, For Standard deviation = $.D./Mean Based on Range = C.D. based on quartile deviation Coefficient of Variation (CV) 100 times the coefficient of dispersion based on standard deviation is the coefficient of variation (C.V.). CLV. = (S.D. / Mean) * 106 $100 Q. Why do we need of measures of dispersion? (i) To determine the reliability of an average. (ii) To serve as a basis for the control of the variability. Gii) To compare two or more series with regard to their variability. (iv) To facilitate the use of other statistical measures. Q. Differences between absolute and relative measurement?Absolute measurement Relative measurement T. Depends on u 1. Unit free measurement, 2. For one data-set or 2. To compare two or more than two distribution. data-sets or distributions 3. Easy to calculate, 3. Complicate to calculate, Q. Why Standard deviation is better than any other measures of dispersion? It is the most popular measure of dispersion because it is mathematically easy to work with, especially if you've chosen the mean as your measure of centrality. It has a lot of nice mathematical properties via the Pythagorean Theorem, linear algebra, and Calculus. But the “ideal” measure of dispersion (and centrality) is very dependent on what is being asked and what your data look like. Q. Why do we need of relative measurement? The absolute measures of dispersion accurately display the dispersion of data in a given series. However, a drawback to them is that we cannot use them to compare dispersion for series that are in different units. The concept of relative measures of dispersion overcomes this limitation. Such measures express the scattering of data in some relative terms or in percentage. Since they are devoid of a specific unit, the comparison between different series is hence possible, For every absolute measure of dispersion, there is a relative measure. To make a valid comparison between two or more than two data-set or distributions, which one is better or best to use or make reliable decision we need relative measurement, In other words, we can derive a relative measure by the ratio of absolute variability to the mean value or by the percentage of absolute variability. They are also known as coefficients of dispersion. Such as — Coefficient of variation (CV). Where, with small value of CV for a data explains better of population. Math: Range, variance, standard deviation coefficient of variation (CV), mean deviation from mean/median/mode (Ungrouped data) Example: Seven-count tests made on certain yarn have shown following results: 22.6, 23.4, 23.0, 23.1, 23.0, 22.9, 23.0 Calculate range, variance, standard deviation, Coefficient of variation, mean deviation from ‘mean/median/mode for the above data-set. Solution: Range = Highest value — Lowest value = 234-226 =08Mean deviation from mean, MD(x) = Mean deviation from median, 2 Med| [226-23 +|23.4—23/+...+)23-23] MD(Med) = = 7 7 Mean deviation from mode, Zh p2.6-23}-p3.4— ps-23_1 MD(Mode) = + = z n 7 7 Math: Range, variance, standard deviation and coefficient of variation (Grouped data) Example: Suppose the following data-set represents daily transport cost for JEigBipstudents. Transport cost_[ 20-30 | 30-40 [40-50 | 50-60 | 60-70 No. of students [3 5 20 to [5 Calculate range, variance, standard deviation and coefficient of variation for transport cost of students, Make a comment on CV Solution: Class Frequency | Mid-point, Tx, ‘ fh) x,= (L+Uy2 f(x, — x) 20-30 3 25 75 1463.9 30-40 5 35 175 730.84 40-50 20 5 900 87.36 30-60 10 35 550 625.681 60-70 5 65 325 1603.84 Sum) yren=4%3 2025 4511.21 Range = Upper limit of last class — lower limit of 1" class = 70-20 = 50 _ dhs AM,x= dAo- pir fasaz.e2a os 43 = 10,24 Coefficient of variation, CV = (S.D. / Mean) x 100 x 100 _ 24, sono a0 100 % =21.75% Comment on CV: CV is low, so we can say our given data set is good enough. Sample Examples: valculate range, variance, standard deviation and mean deviation from mean/median/mode using the following data-set: 2,9,7, 17,24 2. Calculate variance, standard deviation and CV for the given data with a valid comment on CV: Strength 150-155 | 155-160 [160-165 165-170 | 170-175 No. of samples [4 3 3 15 W