MEASURES OF DISPERSION

Dispersion is the state of getting dispersed or spread. Statistical dispersion means the extent to
which a numerical data is likely to vary about an average value. In other words, dispersion helps
to understand the distribution of the data.

Dispersion and Measures of Dispersion in Statistics

Measures of Dispersion:
In statistics, the measures of dispersion help to interpret the variability of data i.e. to know how
much homogenous or heterogenous the data is. In simple terms, it shows how squeezed or
scattered the variable is.

Types of Measures of Dispersion

There are two main types of dispersion methods in statistics which are:

 Absolute Measure of Dispersion

 Relative Measure of Dispersion

Absolute Measure of Dispersion:

An absolute measure of dispersion contains the same unit as the original data set. Absolute
dispersion method expresses the variations in terms of the average of deviations of observations
like standard or means deviations. It includes range, standard deviation, quartile deviation, etc.
The types of absolute measures of dispersion are:

1. Range: It is simply the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value
given in a data set. Example: 1, 3,5, 6, 7 => Range = 7 -1= 6
2. Variance: Deduct the mean from each data in the set then squaring each of them and
adding each square and finally dividing them by the total no of values in the data set is
the variance. Variance (σ2)=∑(X−μ)2/N
3. Standard Deviation: The square root of the variance is known as the standard deviation
i.e. S.D. = √σ.
4. Quartiles and Quartile Deviation: The quartiles are values that divide a list of numbers
into quarters. The quartile deviation is half of the distance between the third and the first
quartile.
5. Mean and Mean Deviation: The average of numbers is known as the mean and the
arithmetic mean of the absolute deviations of the observations from a measure of central
tendency is known as the mean deviation.

Relative Measure of Dispersion:

The relative measures of depression are used to compare the distribution of two or more data
sets. This measure compares values without units. Common relative dispersion methods include:

1. Coefficient of Range
2. Coefficient of Variation
3. Coefficient of Standard Deviation
4. Coefficient of Quartile Deviation
5. Coefficient of Mean Deviation

Coefficient of Dispersion
The coefficients of dispersion are calculated along with the measure of dispersion when two
series are compared which differ widely in their averages. The dispersion coefficient is also used
when two series with different measurement unit are compared. It is denoted as C.D.

The common coefficients of dispersion are:

C.D. In Terms of Coefficient of dispersion

Range C.D. = (Xmax – Xmin) ⁄ (Xmax + Xmin)
Quartile Deviation C.D. = (Q3 – Q1) ⁄ (Q3 + Q1)
Standard Deviation (S.D.) C.D. = S.D. ⁄ Mean
Mean Deviation C.D. = Mean deviation/Average

Measures of Dispersion Formulas

The most important formulas for the different dispersion methods are:
Arithmetic Mean Formula Quartile Formula
Standard Deviation Formula Variance Formula
Interquartile Range Formula All Statistics Formulas

The measures of Central Tendency alone will not give detailed picture or will not
exhibit various characteristics of the frequency distribution having the same total frequency.
Two distributions can have the same mean but differ significantly (Different series with
different variables may have same mean but differ significantly). This characteristic of a
frequency distribution is known as variability or dispersion. In such cases measures of
central tendency should be supplemented and supported by measures of dispersion.
Dispersion helps us in determining the reliability of an average. It helps in controlling the
dispersion and comparing two or more series.
Series
Series A Series B Series D
C
16 12 4 2
16 14 8 4
16 16 14 16
16 16 16 16
16 17 16 10
16 18 24 14
16 19 30 50
Total: 112 112 112 112
Mean:16 16 16 16
Median:16 16 16 16
Mode:16 16 16 16

“ Dispersion is a measure of variation of the items” – AL Bowley

“The degree to which numerical data tend to spread about an average value is called
the variation or dispersion of the data” - Spiegel
MEASURE OF DISPERSION
a. Positional Measures:
i. Range
ii. Quartile Deviation
b. Calculated Measures:
i. Mean Deviation
ii. Standard Deviation
Absolute and Relative Measures of Dispersion
1. Positional measures
a. Co-efficient of Range
b. Co-efficient of Quartile Deviation
2. Calculated measures
a. Co-efficient of Mean Deviation
b. Co-efficient of Standard Deviation
c. Co-efficient of Variation or Variance
d. Lorenz Curve.
RANGE:
Range is the simplest measure of dispersion. The difference between the largest
item and smallest item is known as range. It is defined as the difference between the two
extreme items of the distribution. In other words, range is the difference between the
largest and smallest items of the distribution.
Range = Larges Value – Smallest Value (R=L-S)
 Co-efficient of L-S
Range= L+S
Individual series:
1. Find the range and its co-efficient for the following
22,24,30,32,35,37,40,42
2. Compute range and co-efficient of range (September 2011)
20,23,25,28,32,48,49,62
Discrete Series
3. From the following information calculate the range and co-efficient of range
X 11 18 29 33 37 39 40 42 43
F 100 105 91 82 62 35 70 88 67
Continuous Series:
4. From the following information calculate the range and its co-efficient
Class interval 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70 70-80 80-90 90-100
No. of Students 14 29 21 25 21 10 7 15 3
Inter quartile Range or Quartile Deviation:
The dependence of rang on two extreme items can be avoided by adopting this method.
Quartile deviation is a measure of dispersion and is based upon two quartiles upper and
lower quartile. According to this method, dispersion is measured by calculating the
difference between Q3 and Q1 and then dividing the difference between by two.
Q3 -
Quartile Deviation = Q1
2

Q3 -
Q1
Co-efficient of Quartile Deviation =
Q3 +
Q1
INDIVIDUAL SERIES:
1. Compute Quartile Deviation for the data given below of 7 persons whose yearly
earnings are (March 2010
480, 650, 370, 600, 300, 240, 1200
2. From the following calculate quartile deviation and co-efficient of quartile deviation
8, 10, 14, 22, 26, 28, 30, 38, 44, 59, 64
DISCRETE SERIES:
3. From the following calculate QD and its co-efficient
X 40 45 52 53 54 55 56 57 68 70
F 10 12 14 9 10 11 12 11 9 8
4. From the following calculate QD and its co-efficient
Income (Rs.) 90 70 100 180 150 80 120 200 250 170
Workers 40 20 45 25 38 35 50 22 15 30
CONTINUOUS SERIES:
5. Calculate co-efficient of Quartile Deviation (March 2011)
Below Below Below Below Below Below Below Below Below Below
Marks
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Studen
2 10 12 42 67 88 102 108 112 115
ts
6. Calculate co-efficient of Quartile Deviation(Ans11.35, 0.335)
Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70
Students 4 8 11 15 12 6 3
 7. From the following data find QD and its co-efficient
X 10-15 15-20 20-25 25-30 30-35 35-40 40-45 45-50
F 8 10 12 15 10 7 8 5
MEAN DEVIATION
Range and Quartile deviation suffer from serious drawback that they are based on
two values of a series. Other values of series are ignored. To overcome such drawback
another method of measuring dispersion is employed called Mean deviation. It takes into
account all the values of a series.
Mean deviation or average deviation can be defined as the arithmetic mean of
deviations of all the values taken from their mean, median or mode, after ignoring signs.
While calculating mean deviation we ignore signs because the sum of the deviations of all
values from their mean is Zero.
The following formula is used for calculation of Mean Deviation
∑|D| ∑ f |D|
Mean Deviation =
n n
M.D
Co-efficient of Mean Deviation
=
Mean or Median or
Mode
Indirect method
Discrete series:
∑fx1-∑fx2-(∑f1- ∑f2) ( ͞X ) or M
Mean Deviation
= or Z
N
Continuous series
∑fm1-∑fm2-(∑f1- ∑f2) ( ͞X ) or M
Mean Deviation
= or Z
N
Individual series:
1. Find mean deviation and its co-efficient from the following through mean, median and
mode
68, 49, 31, 21, 54, 38, 59, 66, 41
2. Find MD and its co-efficient (Ans. 12.2, 12, 12.27)
85, 80, 92, 90, 98, 120, 105, 125, 105
Discrete series
3. Calculate mean deviation from the following series (March 2012)
X 10 11 12 13 14
F 3 12 18 12 3
4. Calculate MD and its Co-efficient
X 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
F 16 32 36 44 28 18 12 14
Continuous series:
5. From the following find MD and its co-efficient
Class 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70
F 1 3 5 20 10 5
6. From the following find MD and its co-efficient
Class 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70
F 20 24 26 40 50 16 8
7. Calculate MD and its co-efficient
Age Lt 10 Lt 20 Lt 30 Lt 40 Lt 50 Lt 60 Lt 70 Lt 80
Persons 15 30 53 75 100 110 115 125
 8. Calculate Mean Deviation by using Median (October 2012)
Class 100-91 90-81 80-71 70-61 60-51 50-41
F 2 8 23 17 16 5

STANDARD DEVIATION

The standard deviation overcomes all the problems of various method of dispersion
so for discussed to the maximum extent. The range takes into account only two extreme
values, quartile deviation overlooks almost half of the variables and mean deviation all
deviations as positive values but standard deviation overcomes those.
Standard deviation was introduced by Karl Pearson in the year 1893. It is most
popular measure of dispersion because it suffers from very least drawbacks and produce
most accurate results. It is denoted by Greek Letter σ
Individual Series:
∑x
Standard deviation (σ 2
)=
N
2
͞
X = (X- X1) 2

Indirect method
∑dx ∑dx
Standard deviation (σ 2
- 2
)=
N N

Discrete Series:
∑fx
Standard deviation (σ 2
)=
N
2
͞
fX = f(X- X1) 2

Indirect method
∑fdx ∑fdx
Standard deviation (σ 2
- 2
)=
N N

Continuous Series:
∑fm
Standard deviation (σ 2
)=
N
 ͞
fm2= f(m- X1)2
Indirect method
∑fdm ∑fdm
Standard deviation (σ 2
- 2
)=
N N
1. The annual salaries of a group of employees are given below (March 2013)
Salaries In 5 6 7
45 55 60 70 80
Rs.’000 0 5 5
No. of Persons 3 5 8 7 9 7 4 7
2. Calculate standard deviation from the following data (March 2014)
X 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70
F 6 14 10 8 1 3 8
3. Marks of two students in various subjects are as follows. Who is better by
(a).Average (b).By consistency (March 2012)
Sub I Sub II Sub III Sub IV Sub V Sub VI
A 16 18 19 22 20 18
B 7 21 48 3 44 16
4. The following table gives the prices of two securities. Which security in speculative
(December 2013)
Security A 35 54 52 53 56 58 52 50 51 49
Security B 108 107 105 105 106 107 104 103 104 101
5. Goals scored by two teams in a football session were as follows (March 2010)
No. of goals scored in a No. of football matches played
football match Team A Team B
0 15 20
1 10 10
2 7 5
3 5 4
4 3 2
5 2 1
Total 42 42
Calculate co-efficient of variation and state which team is more consistent
6. From the prices of shares of P company and Q company below find out which is more
stable in value. (March 2014)
7 9 7
P Company 65 82 60 50 80 50 70
5 0 5
8 6 7
Q Company 70 72 78 84 76 79 75
0 8 4
7. The following are some of the particulars of the distribution of weights of boys and
girls in a class (September 2010)
Boys Girls
Number 100 50
Mean weight 60 kg 45 kg
Variance 9 4
a. Find the standard deviation of the combined data
b. Which of the two-distribution is more variable
8.