REL ATIVE

DISPERSION
When it is necessary to compare the variability of two or more groups, the
task is easy if the means are the same.
Ex. We can easily compare which group is more varied in height between the
following groups:
Group 1: mean=156 cm, standard deviation =6
Group 2: mean=156 cm, standard deviation = 10

The task becomes more difficult if the means are not equal and the units are
different, such as comparing the weights of two groups belonging to different
age bracket or different gender.
Ex. How can we compare the variability of the weights of
Group 1: 9 girls, mean = 100 lbs, standard deviation 5
Group 2: 12 boys , mean = 160 lbs, standard deviation 8
 Coefficient of Variation (CV) is a type of relative dispersion that expresses the
standard deviation as a percentage of mean. The coefficient of variation (CV) is the ratio of the
standard deviation to the mean. The higher the coefficient of variation, the greater the level of dispersion
around the mean. It is generally expressed as a percentage. ... The lower the value of
the coefficient of variation, the more precise the estimate.

𝜎 𝑠
𝑐𝑣 = 100% 𝑐𝑣 = 100%
𝑥ҧ 𝑥ҧ
Ex. How can we compare the variability of the weights of
Group 1: 9 girls, mean = 100 lbs, standard deviation 5
Group 2: 12 boys , mean = 160 lbs, standard deviation 8

G𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 1 G𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 2
5 8
𝑐𝑣 = 100% 𝑐𝑣 = 100%
9 12

𝑐𝑣 = 55.56% 𝑐𝑣 = 66.67%
Skewness is the measure of the shape of the curve. Even two curves with
the same standard deviation and mean may have a very different skewness. It is
the measure of the asymmetry of the distribution of a real valued random
variables about the mean. The skewness value can be positive, negative or even
undefined.

As a general rule of thumb:

• If skewness is less than -1 or greater than 1, the distribution is highly skewed.
• If skewness is between -1 and -0.5 or between 0.5 and 1, the distribution is
moderately skewed.
• If skewness is between -0.5 and 0.5, the distribution is approximately
symmetric.
A Positive Skew is a distribution in which the tail of the
statistical curve point towards the positive side. In a
positive skew , more scores or observations clustered
below the middle score/value/element.

3 𝑥ҧ − 𝑥෤
𝑠𝑘 =
𝑠
A Negative Skew is a distribution in which the tail of the statistical
curve point towards the negative side. In a negatively skewed
distribution there are more scores or observations clustered above
the middle score/value/element.

3 𝑥ҧ − 𝑥෤
𝑠𝑘 =
𝑠
Kurtosis is a
statistical measure that
defines how heavily the tails
of a distribution differ from
the tails of a normal
distribution. In other words,
kurtosis identifies whether
the tails of a given
distribution contain
extreme values.
The degree of how peak or
how flat a curve of
distribution is with respect
to normal distribution curve
is defines by its kurtosis.
There are 3 ways to describe the Ungrouped data
peakedness or flatness of a certain
distribution curve.
෌ 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ 4
1. Mesokurtic define the 𝑘𝑢 =
distribution whose kurtosis is 𝑁𝜎 4
that of a normally distributed
curved. (skew=0).
2. Leptokurtic define the
distribution whose curve Grouped data
distribution is more peaked
than that of a normally 4
distributed curve. >3. ෌ 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ
3. Platykurtic is a distribution 𝑘𝑢 =
with flatter curve than of that
𝑁𝜎 4
of a normally distributed curve.
<3.