Measures of Dispersion

Range
-the simplest method of measurement of dispersion and defines the difference between the
largest and the smallest item in a given distribution.  The formula of range is as shown:
Range = Maximum value - minimum value
Advantages: Very easy to calculate. 
Disadvantages:
-Very sensitive to outliers
-Does not use all observations in the data resulting in failing to give any idea of the distribution.

Interquartile range
-the difference between 25th percentile (1st quartile) and 75th percentile (3rd quartile). The
formula of interquartile range is as shown below:
       Interquartile range = Q₃-Q₁
Advantages:
-If the interquartile range is small it means that the middle observations are close to each other
and vice versa,
-Suitable for open-ended distributions
-Very suitable is highly skewed distribution as it is not affected by extreme values
DIsadvantages:
-Not amenable mathematical manipulation
-Varies widely from sample to sample even if it is in the same population.

Standard deviation,σ
-The positive square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of the deviations of the given
values from their arithmetic mean.
-The sum of the deviations as a measure of dispersion for a set of data is not suitable as it is
always 0. 
-There are two formulas for standard deviation which are standard deviation for population and
sample.
If the set of data x₁, x₂, x₃, ...is the population with mean of , then the standard deviation of the
population is  σ=(x-)²n
If the set of data x₁, x₂, x₃, ...is the sample with mean x ， of then standard deviation of the
sample is  s=(x-x)²n-1
Advantages:
-Can detect skewness of the graph
-Can be rigidly defined
-Very rare to be affected by sampling fluctuations
-Suitable  for algebraic operations
Disadvantages:
-It is a complex method to compute compared to others
-Highly influenced by extreme values.