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Measures of Variation
Measures of Variation are values used to describe the distribution, or spread of a set of data.
Quartiles are values that divide a data set into four equal parts. Each quartile represents ¼ or
25% of the data set.

The median or 2nd quartile is the

center number when the numbers are
in order from least to greatest.

The lower quartile or 1st quartile is the

median of the lower half of the data
set.

The upper quartile or 3rd quartile is the

median of the upper half of the data
set.

The interquartile range (IQR) is the

difference between 3rd and 1st
quartiles.
87 – 52 = 35, so the IQR is 35.
If the interquartile range is small, the
middle data are grouped closely
together.

Range is the difference between the

greatest and the least values in the 100 – 18 = 82, so the range is 82.
data set.

An outlier is a data value that is either

much greater than or much less than
the median.
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Practice:
1. Determine the measures of variation for the given data set.
64, 61, 67, 59, 60, 58, 57, 78, 56, 62
56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, 67, 78
Q1 M Q3
Q2
Minimum: 56
Maximum: 78
Median (2nd quartile): 60 + 61 = 121 ÷ 2 = 60.5
Lower quartile (1st quartile): 58
Upper quartile (3rd quartile): 64
Interquartile Range (IQR): 64 – 58 = 6
Range: 78 – 56 = 22