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Lesson 2.3: Measures of Dispersion

Measures of dispersion indicate how spread out or variable values in a data set are from the average. There are two types: measures of absolute dispersion which use the same units as the original data, and measures of relative dispersion which are unit-less. Common measures include range, variance, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. The coefficient of variation allows comparison of variability between data sets with different averages. These measures help determine how reliable averages are and which data sets are more or less variable.

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205 views13 pages

Lesson 2.3: Measures of Dispersion

Measures of dispersion indicate how spread out or variable values in a data set are from the average. There are two types: measures of absolute dispersion which use the same units as the original data, and measures of relative dispersion which are unit-less. Common measures include range, variance, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. The coefficient of variation allows comparison of variability between data sets with different averages. These measures help determine how reliable averages are and which data sets are more or less variable.

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Chesca Alon
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Lesson 2.

3 Measures of
Dispersion
Measures of Dispersion
Measures of Dispersion indicates the extent to which individual items in a series are scattered about an average. In most
cases, it is used to describe how closely or how different the observations in a given data set. For example, we want to know
how variable the heights a specific variety of coconuts planted in different regions of the country or can we say that the blood
pressure of 100 selected males with diabetes is somehow close to each other?
Furthermore, it is used to determine the extent of scatter so that steps may be taken to control the existing variation. It is
also used as measure of reliability of the average value. In addition, it can be used to compare data sets and informs us which
data sets is less or more variable. For example, we can determine the whether the life span of male dog is more variable than
the females or can we say that harvest (kg/hectare) of a certain variety of rice is more precise than the other varieties? All of
these can be answered through the use of measures of dispersion.
General Classifications of Measures of Dispersion
1. Measures of Absolute Dispersion
2. Measures of Relative Dispersion
Measures of Absolute Dispersion
The measures of absolute dispersion are expressed in the units of the original observations.
They cannot be used to compare variations of two data sets when the averages of these data sets
differ a lot in value or when the observations differ in units of measurement.
2.3.1.1 The Range
The range of a set of measurement s is the difference between the largest and smallest values.
R=maximum value-minimum value
Example:
The IQ scores of 5 members of the Morales’ family are 108, 112, 127, 116, and 113. Find the
range.
Therefore, the range is
R=127-108=19
Measures of Absolute Dispersion
   The population variance , can be estimated by
2.3.1.2 The Standard the sample variance , where
Deviation and Variance
For a finite population of size N, And the population standard σ deviation can be
the population variance is estimated by the sample standard deviation s,
where

And the population standard


deviation is
Measures of Absolute Dispersion
 
Example: A sample of 5 households showed the following number of household members: 3,
8, 5, 5, and 4. Find the variance and the standard deviation.
Since the data came from samples, then sample variance is and sample standard deviation are
computed.
First compute the sample mean

Now the variance is

 And the Standard Deviation is


Measure of Relative Dispersion
 Measures of Relative Dispersion are unit less and are used when one wishes to
compare the scatter of one distribution with another distribution.
2.3.2.1 Coefficient of Variation
The coefficient of variation, CV, is the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean and is
usually expressed in percentage. It is computed as

Lower or smaller value of coefficient of variation indicates a relatively less variable data set
or distribution. A more heterogeneous data set is indicted by higher coefficient of variation.
Measure of Relative Dispersion
Example 1: Let the coefficient of variation for dataset A is 10.25% and the coefficient of variation for
dataset B is 15.73%. What does this information tell us?
This indicate that data set A is relatively more precise or less heterogeneous than data set B since the
coefficient of variation for dataset A is lower that the coefficient of variation of dataset B.
Example 2: Below are the systolic blood pressure of selected men and women ages 60 -65 years old;
Men : 145 130 125 128 130 120 132
Women : 118 120 135 125 122 137 140
Which has a relatively more disperse systolic BP, men or women?
Measure of Relative Dispersion
Solution:

1. Compute the mean and standard deviation for both groups

Mean Standard Deviation

Men130.00 7.72

Women 128.14 8.97

2. Compute the CV for both groups.

CV(Men) = 5.94%CV(Women) = 7.00%

3. Compare the computed CVs and make conclusion.

Since the CV of women (7.00%) is higher than the CV of men (5.94%), therefore the systolic blood
pressure of women is relatively more disperse than men.
Practice Exercise
Direction: Answer the following problems as indicated.
1. Find the range of the following data sets:
Data set a: 15, 16, 7, 5, 14, 10
Data set b: 110, 125, 98, 85, 62, 100
2. Find the standard deviation and variance of each set in #1.
3. On a final examination in Statistics, the average grade of 100 students of DS School was 80 and the
standard deviation was 8. In another school, DF School, the average grade of 120 students was 75. And
the standard deviation was 7.9. In which school was there a greater Absolute deviation
4. Find the coefficient of variation of each set in #3. In which school was there a greater relative deviation
Practice Exercise
Direction: Answer the following problems as indicated.
5. On 16 days, a restaurant had the following numbers of orders for chicken and steak:
Chicken: 46 55 43 48 54 65 36 40 51 53 64 32 41 46 53 47
Steak: 39 41 25 30 46 36 37 23 30 33 50 44 41 28 35 37

Calculate the mean, median, mode, standard deviation, variance and CV and determine which item the
number of order is relatively more variable.
 
Supplemental Videos for Lesson 2.3
To have additional understanding of measures of variability how to compute standard deviation,
variance and coefficient of variation using EXCEL and using calculator, please visit the following sites;
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7WTQ0H0Acc
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDAd_QHKoOg&t=21s
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McCoCvogTQ4
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpLABdyepNk
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s00gOvvdlY
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI1wzkuKS6Y&t=57s
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0RkssU0ZI0
Answers to practice exercise
Practice Exercise 4.1 5.
CHICK
1. Range   EN STEAK

Set a: 11 Set b: 63
Mean 48.38 35.94
2. Standard deviation Median 47.5 36.5
Set a: 4.535 Mode 46 41
Set b: 21.593 Standard Deviation 9.069 7.558
Sample Variance 82.25 57.13
3. DS school has greater absolute Coefficient of Variation (%) 18.75 21.03
deviation since the standard deviation is 8.
The number of orders for steak is relatively more
4. CV of DS School = 10%
CV of DF School = 10.53%
variable that the number of orders for chicken, since
Therefore, DF School has greater the CV for the number of orders for steak (21.03%) is
relative deviation which is 10.53% higher than the CV for the number of orders for
chicken (18.75%).
References
Anderson DR, Sweeney DJ. 2018. Statistics for Business and Economics. Boston: MA: Cengage Learning.
Anderson DR, Sweeney DJ. 2016. Essentials of Modern Business Statistics with Microsoft Excel. Boston:
MA: Cengage Learning.
Anderson DR, Stamford CT, Sweeney DJ, Williams TA. 2015. Modern Business Statistics with Microsoft
Office Excel. Cengage Learning.
Reyes, C. and Saren, L. ELEMENTARY STATISTICS TEXT/WORKBOOK. National Bookstore,
Mandaluyong City
Walpole, R. PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS. NY: Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc

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