Measure of Dispersion

Measure of dispersion is the measure of spread of data about the mean.

The four measures od spread (or measure of dispersion) that we need to know are:
• The range
• The interquartile range
• The semi-interquartile range
• Standard Deviation

The Range
The range of a set of data is defined as the difference between the LARGEST and SMALLEST
observations.

Finding the range from raw data

Range = Largest Observation – Smallest observation

Example 1
The wages of workers in a factory are: $175, $160, $195, $149, $185, $167, $148

Solution

$148, $149, $160, $167, $175, $185 $195

Smallest Observation Largest Observation

Range = Largest Observation – Smallest observation

= $(195 – 148)

=$47

Hence the range is $47.

 Calculating the range from a Frequency distribution with ungrouped data

Range = the upper boundary limit of the largest observation – the lower boundary limit of the
smallest observation.

Example 2
The weight of 50 lambs were estimated to the nearest kg. the result can be seen tabulated below:

Weight (Kg) Frequency

27 4

28 9

29 16

30 13

31 5

32 2

33 1

What value is the range of these estimates?

Solution
 Interquartile Range and Semi-Interquartile Range

A quartile is one of three values that divide an ORDERED set of data into four equal parts.

First or Lower Quartile- Q1 is the value below which is one-quarter of the data lies.

Second or Middle Quartile- Q2 is the value below which one-half of the data lies (the Median).

Third or Upper Quartile- Q3 is the value below which three-quarter of the data lies.

Formula

The Interquartile Range, I.Q.R = Q3 – Q1

𝑄3 −𝑄1
The Semi-Interquartile Range, S.I.O.R = 2

i.e. half of the interquartile range.

Interquartile Range and Semi-Interquartile Range from Raw Data

Example 1
Calculate the interquartile range and semi-interquartile range of the following heights stated in
centimetres:

a) 163, 158, 154, 161, 156, 159, 155.

b) 158, 163, 154, 161, 157, 156, 159, 155.

Solution

Lower Quartile, Q1 = 155cm

Upper Quartile, Q3 = 161cm

The Interquartile Range, I.Q.R = Q3 – Q1

= (161-155)cm
= 6 cm

𝑄3 −𝑄1
The Semi-Interquartile Range, S.I.O.R = 2

(161−155)𝑐𝑚 6𝑐𝑚
= = = 3𝑐𝑚
2 2
 (155+156)𝑐𝑚 311𝑐𝑚
The lower quartile, Q1 = = = 155.5𝑐𝑚
2 2

(159+161)𝑐𝑚 320𝑐𝑚
The upper Quartile, Q3 = = = 160 𝑐𝑚
2 2

The Interquartile Range, I.Q.R = Q3 – Q1

= (160-155.5) cm
= 4.5cm

𝑄3 −𝑄1
The Semi-Interquartile Range, S.I.O.R = 2

(161−155)𝑐𝑚 4.5𝑐𝑚
= = = 2.25𝑐𝑚
2 2
 Standard Deviation

Standard deviation is a measure of the spread of individual observations from the mean of the set
of data.

∑(𝑥 − 𝑥̅ )2 ∑ 𝑑2
𝑆=√ =√
∑𝑓 𝑛

Where 𝑓 = the frequency

𝑥 = the value of the observation

𝑥̅ = the mean value of the observations

𝑑 = the deviation (or difference) of each observation from the mean.

Probability
Probability is a measure of the likelihood of an outcome.
𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠
The Probability of a successful even = 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠

𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒

= 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒

The set of all possible outcomes in any experiment is called the sample space.

The probability of an event occurring ranges from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 1.

If an outcome is impossible the probability of it happening is 0.

If an outcome is certain the probability of it happening is 1.

Example 1
What is the probability of obtaining a head in a single toss of a fair coin?

Total number of possible outcomes = 2 (i.e head and tail)

Total number of favorable outcomes = 1

1
Hence the probability is 2
Example 2

In a test the pupils of a group scored the following marks (out of 10).

Mark 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Frequency 1 4 5 7 8 8 7 6 3 1

Calculate the probability of selecting a pupil who had:

(A) A mark of 3 or less.

(B) A mark 6.
(C) A mark 8 or higher.