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Measures of Variability

This document discusses various measures of variability used to describe the diversity or spread of data distributions. It defines and provides examples of calculating the range, interquartile range (IQR), variance, and standard deviation. The range is the difference between the highest and lowest values, while the IQR indicates the middle 50% of values. Variance and standard deviation are more informative measures that use all data points. Choosing a measure depends on the type of variable, with standard deviation providing the most information for interval/ratio variables.

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Princess Melanie Melendez
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179 views11 pages

Measures of Variability

This document discusses various measures of variability used to describe the diversity or spread of data distributions. It defines and provides examples of calculating the range, interquartile range (IQR), variance, and standard deviation. The range is the difference between the highest and lowest values, while the IQR indicates the middle 50% of values. Variance and standard deviation are more informative measures that use all data points. Choosing a measure depends on the type of variable, with standard deviation providing the most information for interval/ratio variables.

Uploaded by

Princess Melanie Melendez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 5:

Measures of Variability
• The Importance of Measuring
Variability
• The Range
• IQR (Inter-Quartile Range)
• Variance
• Standard Deviation
• Considerations for choosing a measure
of variation

Chapter 5 – 1
The Importance of
Measuring Variability
• Central tendency - Numbers that describe
what is typical or average (central) in a
distribution
• Measures of Variability - Numbers that
describe diversity or variability in the
distribution.
These two types of measures together help us to sum up a
distribution of scores without looking at each and every
score. Measures of central tendency tell you about typical (or
central) scores. Measures of variation reveal how far from
the typical or central score that the distribution tends to vary.
Chapter 5 – 2
Notice that both distributions have the same mean,
yet they are shaped differently
Chapter 5 – 3
The Range

Range = highest score - lowest score

• Range – A measure of variation in interval-ratio


variables. It is the difference between the
highest (maximum) and the lowest (minimum)
scores in the distribution.

Chapter 5 – 4
Inter-Quartile Range
• Inter-Quartile Range (IQR) – A measure of
variation for interval-ratio data. It indicates the
width of the middle 50 percent of the distribution
and is defined as the difference between the
lower and upper quartiles (Q1 and Q3.)
• IQR = Q3 – Q1

Chapter 5 – 5
The difference between the
Range and IQR

These
values Shows
fall greater
together variability
closely

Importance
of the IQR
Yet the ranges
are equal!
Chapter 5 – 6
The Box Plot
• The Box Plot is a graphic device that visually
presents the following elements: the range, the IQR,
the median, the quartiles, the minimum (lowest
value,) and the maximum (highest value.)

M a x im u m

Q 3

R ange IQ R M e d ia n

Q 1

M in im u m

Chapter 5 – 7
Variance
• Variance – A measure of variation for
interval-ratio variables; it is the average of
the squared deviations from the mean
2

 (Y Y )
s 
2
Y
N 1

Chapter 5 – 8
Standard Deviation
• Standard Deviation – A measure of variation for
interval-ratio variables; it is equal to the square
root of the variance.

 (Y Y )
s s  2
Y
N 1

Chapter 5 – 9
Find the Mean and the
Standard Deviation

Chapter 5 – 10
Considerations for Choosing a
Measure of Variability
• For nominal variables, you can only use IQV (Index
of Qualitative Variation.)
• For ordinal variables, you can calculate the IQV or
the IQR (Inter-Quartile Range.) Though, the IQR
provides more information about the variable.
• For interval-ratio variables, you can use IQV, IQR,
or variance/standard deviation. The standard
deviation (also variance) provides the most
information, since it uses all of the values in the
distribution in its calculation.

Chapter 5 – 11

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