Measures of

Dispersion or
Variability
Measures of
Variability
Use to describe the spread of data
or its variation around a central
value.
M e a s u r e s o f
Variability
There are four common measures of
variability:
range variance
Standard
Mean Absolute Deviation
deviation
Range
 It is defined as the
difference between
Range the largest and
smallest sample
values.
 The range is a measure
of variability or
scatteredness of the
variates or observations

Range among themselves and

does not give an idea
about the spread of the
observations around
some central value.
 The simplest
measures of
Range variability to
calculate.
Mean Absolute
Deviation
 The average of
Mean the absolute
deviation of the
Absolute individual score
Deviation from the mean of
the entire set of
(MAD) data.
Variance
 It is the average of the
squared deviation
Variance values from the
distribution’s mean.
 If all values are
identical the variance
Variance is zero, the greater the
dispersion of values
the greater the
variance.
 The symbol for sample
2
variance is 𝑆 and the
Variance population variance is
the Greek letter sigma
2
𝜎 .
Standard
Deviation
 It is the positive

Standard square root of the

variance which
measures the spread
deviation or dispersion of each
value from the mean
of the distribution.
Standard It is the most used
and most important
deviation measure of
variability.
 Calculating the
Measures of
Variability
Ungrouped Data
 Range = HV – LV

Range Where:
HV – Highest Value
LV – Lowest Value
Example 1
The score of the intelligence test given to a
group of 8 students are listed below. What is
the range of their scores?
70 73 75 78 79 82 87 90
Solution -Example 1

R = HV – LV
R = 90 – 70
R = 20
Example 2
Find the range of the given set of data
below.
48 50 37 32 65 52
44 70 58 64 86 60
62 28 75 70 25 56
Solution Example 2
R = HV – LV
R = 86 – 25
R = 61
 Mean It is a way to explain

Absolute data variability. It lets

one get a sense of

Deviation how “spread around"

the values in a data
collection..
(MAD)
 Mean Formula :
MAD=
Ʃ 𝑥𝑖 −𝑥ҧ
𝑛

Absolute Where :
𝑥𝑖 = value of each

Deviation observation
||= symbol for absolute
value

(MAD) n= total number of items

𝑥=
ҧ mean
 Steps in Calculating MAD
1. Find the mean(ungrouped).
2. Find the distance between each data value and the
mean. Find the absolute value of the difference between
each data value and the mean.
3. Sum up the absolute values of the deviation
4. Divide the sum by the number of observations.
Example 1
Below is the list of scores of 8 students in a grammar quiz.
Compute for the MAD.
x
Step 1 :
13 ∑𝑥
14 𝑥ҧ =
14 𝑛
17
19
152
=
20 8
25
30
= 19
∑𝑥 = 152
Example 1
x |𝑥𝑖 - 𝑥|ҧ Step 2: Subtract the
13 |13-19| = 6
mean from each data
14 |14-19| = 5
14 |14-19| = 5 and get its absolute
17 |17-19| = 2 value as seen in column
19 |19-19| = 0
|𝑥𝑖 - 𝑥|.
ҧ
20 |20-19| = 1
25 |25-19| = 6 Step 3: 𝑜𝑏𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 ∑|𝑥_𝑖−𝑥 ҧ |
30 |30-19| = 11 by adding all |𝑥_𝑖 - 𝑥 ҧ|.
∑𝑥 = 152 ∑ 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥ҧ = 36
Solution -Example 1
∑ 𝑥𝑖 −𝑥ҧ
Step 4: 𝑀𝐴𝐷 =
𝑛
36
= = 4.5
8
Since the MAD is 4.5. this means that the average distance of each
point to the mean is 4.5.
 Example 2
Step 1 :
𝑥𝑖
45 ∑𝑥
48 𝑥ҧ =
48 𝑛
50 652
52 = = 54.33
12
∑𝑥 652 54
Step 1 : 𝑥ҧ = = = 54.33
𝑛 12
55
57
59 𝑥ҧ ≈54
60
61
63
 Example 2
𝑥𝑖 |𝑥𝑖 - 𝑥|
ҧ
45
48
9
6
Step 2: Subtract the mean
48 6 from each data and get its
50 4
52 2
absolute value as seen in
54 0 column 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥ҧ .
∑𝑥 652 1
Step 1 : 𝑥ҧ = 𝑛 =5512 = 54.33
57 3
59 5 Step 3: Obtain ∑ 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥ҧ
60 6
61 7 by adding all |𝑥𝑖 - 𝑥|.
ҧ
63 9
Σ|𝑥𝑖 - 𝑥|
ҧ =58
Solution -Example 2
∑ 𝑥𝑖 −𝑥ҧ
Step 4: 𝑀𝐴𝐷 =
𝑛
58
=
12
= 4.83
 Importance of Standard Deviation

Standard deviation – Helps us understand how spread out the data

set.
a. Heterogeneous – High SD
- numbers are far from the mean
b. Homogeneous – Low SD
- data are close to the average
 2

Population 2 ∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝜇)
𝜎 =
𝑁
where:
Variance 𝑥𝑖 = value of each item
𝜇 = population mean
formula N= total number of
observations
 Sample 2
𝑆 =
ҧ
∑(𝑥𝑖 −𝑥 ) 2

Variance
𝑛−1
where:
𝑥𝑖 = value of each item

formula 𝑥=
ҧ sample mean
n= total number of
observations
Population 𝜎 = ∑(𝑥 − 𝑖 𝜇)2

Standard Where:
𝑁

Deviation 𝜇 = population mean

𝑋 = value of each item
𝑖

Formula observations
N= total number of
 Sample S=
∑(𝑥𝑖 −𝑥)ҧ 2
𝑛−1

Standard Where:
𝑥𝑖 = value of each item
Deviation 𝑥=
ҧ sample mean
n= total number of
Formula observations
 For Calculating Variance of
Ungrouped data
1. Compute for the mean (ungrouped data)
2. Compute the deviation by subtracting the mean to each data set. (𝑥𝑖
- 𝑥ҧ ).
2
3. Square the deviation. 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥ҧ .
2
4. Get the sum of the squared deviation. ∑ 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥ҧ
5. Divide the sum by
a. N - if we are computing for the population variance
b. n – 1 - if we are computing for the sample variance
For Calculating Standard Deviation
of Ungrouped data

1. Simply get the square root of the

variance.
Example 1
The following numbers were obtained by sampling a population:
2,4,7, 12, and 15. Compute for the variance and standard deviation.

Sample x 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥ҧ (𝑥𝑖 −𝑥)ҧ 2

1 2 -6 36
2 4 -4 16
3 7 -1 1
4 12 4 16
5 15 7 49
Total 40 118
Solution - Example 1
𝛴𝑥
𝑥ҧ =
𝑛
2+4+7+12+15
=
5
40
= =8
5
Solution - Example 1
2
2
∑ 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ
𝑠 =
𝑛−1
118
=
5−1
118
=
4
= 29.5
Solution - Example 1
118
𝑠=
5−1

118
=
4

= 29.5
= 5.43
 Calculating the
Measures of
Variability
Grouped Data
Range R = 𝑈𝐵𝐻𝐶 − 𝐿𝐵𝐿𝑐
 R = 𝑈𝐵𝐻𝐶 − 𝐿𝐵𝐿𝑐
Where:
𝑈𝐵𝐻𝐶 – Upper boundary

Range limit of the highest-class

interval
𝐿𝐵𝐿𝑐 - Lower boundary
limit of the lowest class
interval
Example 1
Find the range of data in the following distribution:
C.I. F
18 -26 8
27 - 35 13
36- 44 21
45-53 6
54-62 12
Total 60
Solution-Example 1

𝑈𝐵𝐻𝐶 = 62 + 0.5 = 62.5

𝐿𝐵𝐿𝑐 = 18 − 0.5 = 17.5
R = 𝑈𝐵𝐻𝐶 − 𝐿𝐵𝐿𝑐
= 62.5 – 17.5
= 45
 Mean ∑𝑓 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ

Absolute Where:
𝑀𝐴𝐷 =
𝑥ҧ − mean
Where: 𝑥ҧ − 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛
n –ortotal
frequency frequency or
observation
𝑁
n – total

Deviation observation
frequency
𝑥 − 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒

x -class mark of each class

interval
f -

(MAD) f - frequency
 Steps in Calculating Mean Absolute
Deviation of Grouped data
1. Compute for the mean (grouped data).
2. Compute for the class mark (x) by getting the average of the upper limit and
lower limit of each class interval.
3. Find the distance between the class mark of each class interval and the mean.
Find the absolute value of the difference between each class mark and the
mean. 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ
4. Multiply each deviation by its corresponding frequency. (𝑓 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ )
5. Sum up the product of the deviation and frequency. (∑𝑓 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ )
6. Divide the sum by the number of observations to get the MAD
 Example 1
The following is a frequency distribution of an achievement test. Using the
table below compute for the MAD.
Class Mark
Class Interval f fx |x- 𝑥|ҧ f |x-𝑥|ҧ
x =(UL+LL)/2
49-53 8
2409
54-58 13
59-63 11
64-68 6
69-73 12
Total 50
Solution-Example 1
∑𝑓𝑥 3 055
𝑥ҧ = = = 61.1
𝑛 50
∑𝑓 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ
𝑀𝐴𝐷 =
𝑁
295
=
50
= 5.9
Example 2
Class Mark
Class Interval f
x =(UL+LL)/2
fx |x-𝑥ҧ | f |x-𝑥ҧ |

18 -26 8 22 176 18 144

27 -35 13 31 403 9 117
36 -44 21 40 840 0 0
45 -53 6 49 294 9 54
54 -62 12 58 696 18 216
Total 60 2409 531
Solution-Example 2
∑𝑓𝑥 2409
𝑥ҧ = = = 40.15
𝑛 60
≈ 40
∑𝑓 𝑥−𝑥ҧ 531
𝑀𝐴𝐷 = = = 8.85
𝑁 60

Therefore, MAD is 8.85.

 2 ∑𝑓(𝑥− 𝜇)2
𝜎 =
𝑁
where:
Population x= class mark of each
class interval
Variance 𝜇 = population mean
N= total number of
formula observations
f - frequency
 ҧ
∑𝑓(𝑥−𝑥 ) 2
2
𝑆 =
Sample where:
𝑛−1

𝑥 = class mark of each

Variance class interval
𝑥=ҧ sample mean
formula n= total number of
observations
f - frequency
Population 𝜎=
∑𝑓(𝑥 − 𝜇)2
𝑁

Standard Where:
x= class mark of each class
interval
Deviation 𝜇 = population mean
N= total number of
Formula observations
f - frequency
 Sample S=
∑𝑓(𝑥 −𝑥)ҧ 2
𝑛−1

Standard Where:
x= class mark of each class
interval
Deviation 𝑥=ҧ sample mean
n= total number of
Formula observations
f - frequency
Variance of Grouped data
1. Compute for the mean (grouped data)
2. Compute the deviation by subtracting the mean from each class-mark of the
data set .𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ
3. Square the deviation. 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ 2

4. Multiply the squared deviation by its corresponding frequency

2
5. Take the sum of the products obtained in step 4. ∑𝑓 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ
6. Divide the sum by
a. N - if we are computing for the population variance
b. n – 1 - if we are computing for the sample variance
 Standard deviation
of Grouped data

Simply get the square root of

the variance.
Example 1
Given are the scores of BSCS-1D students in their Statistics exam.
Compute for the variance and standard deviation.
Classes f x fx 𝒙−𝜇
10-14 5 12 60 -10 ∑𝑓𝑥
15-19 12 17 204 -5 𝜇 =
20-24 14 22 308 0 𝑛
25-29 6 27 162 5 946
30-34 2 32 64 10 =
35-39 4 37 148 15 43
Total 43 946 = 22
Example 1
Given are the scores of BSCS-1D students in their Statistics exam.
Compute for the variance and standard deviation.
Classes f x fx 𝒙−𝜇 𝒙−𝜇 𝟐 𝒇 𝒙− 𝜇 𝟐

10-14 5 12 60 -10 100 500

15-19 12 17 204 -5 25 300
20-24 14 22 308 0 0 0
25-29 6 27 162 5 25 150
30-34 2 32 64 10 100 200
35-39 4 37 148 15 225 900
Total 43 946 ഥ
∑𝒇 𝒙 − 𝒙 𝟐
=2050
Solution -Example
2
2
∑𝑓 𝑥 − 𝜇
𝜎 =
𝑁
2050
=
43
= 47.67
Solution -Example
∑𝑓 𝑥 − 𝜇 2
𝜎 =
𝑁

2050
=
43
= 47.67
= 6.90
 Example 2
Given the weight in pounds distribution of 123 high school students in a certain
university. Calculate the sample variance and sample standard deviation of the
given data.
Classes f x fx
118-126 15 122 1830
127-135 28 131 3668 ∑𝑓𝑥 17796
136-144 22 140 3080 𝑥ҧ = =
145-153 17 149 2533 𝑛 123
154-162 18 158 2844
163-171 23 167 3841 = 145
Total 123 17796
 Example 2
Given the weight in pounds distribution of 123 high school students in a certain
university. Calculate the sample variance and sample standard deviation of the
given data..
𝒙−ഥ 𝟐 𝟐
Classes f x fx 𝒙 𝒙−ഥ
𝒙 𝒇 𝒙−ഥ
𝒙
118-126 15 122 1830 -23 529 7 935
127-135 28 131 3668 -14 196 5 488
136-144 22 140 3080 -5 25 550
145-153 17 149 2533 4 16 272
154-162 18 158 2844 13 169 3 042
163-171 23 167 3841 22 484 11 132
Total 123 17796 28 419
Solution -Example 2
2
2
∑𝑓 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ
𝑠 =
𝑛−1
𝟐𝟖 𝟒𝟏𝟗
=
123 − 1
28 419
=
122
= 232. 94
Solution -Example 2
∑𝑓 𝑥−𝑥ҧ 2
s=
𝑛−1

28 419
=
122
= 232.94
=15.26
Example 3
The table shows the frequency distribution of the number of laptops sold
during the month of February at 45 selected stores located at Angeles City.
Solve the (a) range , (b) mean absolute deviation , ( c) variance, (d) standard
deviation.
Classes f x fx 𝒙−𝜇
3-11 5
12-20 10
21-29 4
30-38 14
39-47 8
48-56 3
57-65 1
 Example
Given are the scores of BSIT-2C students in their Probability exam.
Compute for the range, MAD, and variance and standard deviation.
Classes f x fx 𝒙−𝜇
18-27 8
28-37 13
38-47 21
48-57 6
58-67 12
Total