Israth Sultana

Lecturer, DBA, IIUC

Measures of Dispersion or Measures of Variability

Definition:
Dispersion is an important characteristic of frequency distributions. It tells us how completely
the individual values are distributed around the average.
According to Dr. A.L. Bowley, “Dispersion is the measure of the variation of the items.”

Objectives of measures of variation:

Measures of variation are needed for four basic purposes:
1. To determine the reliability of an average
2. To serve as a basis for the control of the variability
3. To compare two or more series with regard to their variability and
4. To facilitate the use of other statistical measures.

Types of measure of variation:

There are two types of dispersions: 1. Absolute measure of variation
2. Relative measure of variation

Absolute measure of variation:

Different types of absolute measures are:
Range:
Range is the difference of the highest and the lowest observations of the distributions.
Range = Maximum value-Minimum value
For grouped data, range is the difference between the highest observation in the last class interval
and the lowest observation in the first class interval. Range can never be zero.
Mean deviation:
The mean deviation or the average deviation is defined as the mean of the absolute deviations of
observations from some suitable average which may be the arithmetic mean, the median or the
mode.
For ungrouped data, mean deviation-
n

a) about mean: M.D. ( x ) =

∑ |x i−x|
i=1
n
 Israth Sultana
Lecturer, DBA, IIUC

b) about median: M.D. (Me) = i=1

∑ |x i−Me|
n
n

c) about mode: M.D. (Mo) =

∑ |x i−Mo|
i=1
n
For grouped data or frequency distributions, mean deviation-
n

a) about mean: M.D. ( x ) =

∑ f i|x i−x|
i=1
n
n

b) about median: M.D. (Me) = i=1

∑ f i|x i−Me|
n
n

c) about mode: M.D. (Mo) =

∑ f i|x i−Mo|
i=1
n

Quartile deviation:
Quartiles deviation represents the average difference between the third quartile and the first
quartile. If, Q2 is the middle most observation and Q2 & Q1 are the middle most observation of
lower half & upper half respectively, then Q2−Q1 and Q3−Q2 gives us two measure of
dispersion. That means,
(Q ¿ ¿ 3−Q1)
Q.D = ¿
2
3×N
−p.c .f
Where, 3 quartile, Q3 = L3 +
rd 4
×c
f
1×N
−p.c. f
1 quartile, Q1 = L1 + 4
st
×c
f

Standard deviation:
The arithmetic mean of the square of the deviations of the given observations from their
arithmetic mean is called variance. The positive square root of the variance is called standard
deviation. Let, x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ,… …… …… , x n be the series of n observations, standard deviation is defined
as,
 Israth Sultana
Lecturer, DBA, IIUC

For ungrouped data, σ =

√ ∑ ( x −x )2
N

Again, for grouped data or frequency distributions, standard deviation is-

σ=
√ ∑ f ( x−x )2
N

Calculation for Standard deviation (Ungrouped data):

1. By taking deviations from the actual mean

σ =
√
N
∑ ( x −x )2
2. Deviations taken from assumed mean: when the actual mean is in fractions, say 87.296
then we apply following formula,

√ ∑ d2− ∑ d
( )
2
σ = where, d = X – A
N N

Calculation of standard deviation (group data):

1. By taking deviation from actual mean

σ =
√
N
∑ f ( x−x )2
2. Deviation taken from assumed mean:

√ ( )
∑ f d 2 − ∑ fd
2
σ = ×i
N N

Properties of Standard deviation:

1. Standard deviation is a non-negative value
2. For two observations, SD is half of the range i.e. SD = R/2
3. Standard deviation cannot less than average deviation
4. Standard deviation can’t be greater than range
5. It is possible to compute combined standard deviation of two or more groups. Combined
standard deviation of two groups is denoted by σ 12 and is computed as follows:

σ 12 =
√ N 1 σ 12 + N 2 σ 22 + N 1 d 12 + N 2 d 22
N 1+ N 2
 Israth Sultana
Lecturer, DBA, IIUC

Where, σ 12 = combined standard deviation

σ 1 = Standard deviation of first group
σ 2 = Standard deviation of second group
And d 1 =| X 1−X 12|, d 2 = | X 2−X 12|

6. The standard deviation of the first n natural numbers can be obtained by the following
formula:

√
σ = ( N −1 )
2

12

Merits of Standard deviation:

1. It is rigidly defined
2. It takes all the observations into account
3. It is amenable to algebraic treatments
4. It is less affected by sampling fluctuation.
Demerits:
1. It is difficult to compute
2. It is affected by the extreme values
3. It cannot be calculated if the extreme classes of the frequency distribution are open.
Uses of Standard deviation:
It is the most useful measure of dispersion and has got immense use in advanced statistical work
such as sampling, correlation analysis, normal curve of errors, comparing variability and
uniformity of two sets of data etc.
Relative measure of dispersion:
These measures are calculated for the comparison of dispersion in two or more than two sets of
observations. These measures are free of the units in which the original data is measured. These
measures are a sort of ratio and are called coefficients.
Different types of relative measures are:
i) Co-efficient of Range:
X max −X min
The coefficient of range is defined as C.R. = ×100, where X max and X min is
X max + X min
the highest and lowest observation respectively.
ii) Co-efficient of quartile deviation:
 Israth Sultana
Lecturer, DBA, IIUC

Q3−Q1
The co-efficient of quartile deviation is defined as C.Q.D. = × 100,
Q3 +Q1
Where, Q3 and Q1 is the third and first quartile respectively.
iii) Co-efficient of mean deviation:
The co-efficient of mean deviation are:
M . D .(x)
a) About mean, defined as C.M.D. ( x ) = ×100
x
M . D .(Me)
b) About median, defined as C.M.D. (Me) = ×100
Me
M . D .(Mo)
c) About mode, defined as C.M.D. (Mo) = ×100
Mo

iv) Co-efficient of variation:

The corresponding relative measure of standard deviation is known as the co-efficient
of variation. It is useful in comparing the variability of two or more sets of data,
especially if they are expressed in different units of measurement.
σ
The co-efficient of variation is defined as C.V. = ×100, where σ and x
x
is the standard deviation and mean respectively.
Uses of co-efficient of variation:
1. To know the nature of the distribution
2. Comparing two distributions
3. To test the uniformity of wages of two or more industries
4. Comparing two distributions of different units
5. To test the efficiency, sufficiency and consistency of two or more distributions
6. To measure the temperature, humidity, rainfall of dispersion of meterological station.

Properties/ Characteristics of a good measure of dispersion:

Following are the properties of an ideal measure of dispersion:
1. It should be simple to understand
2. It should be easy to compute
3. It should be rigidly defined
4. It should be based on all the observations
5. It should have sampling stability
6. It should be suitable for further algebraic treatment and
 Israth Sultana
Lecturer, DBA, IIUC

7. It should not be affected by extreme observations.

Good measure of variation:

Standard deviation satisfies all properties of an ideal measure of variation except (6) property. So
standard deviation is a good measure of variation.