Measures of

Dispersion

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Definition
 Measures of dispersion indicate the extent to which individual items in
a series are scattered about an average.
 The more similar the scores are to each other, the lower the measure of
dispersion will be
 The less similar the scores are to each other, the higher the measure of
dispersion will be
 In general, the more spread out a distribution is, the larger the measure
of dispersion will be
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Measures of Dispersion
 Which of the distributions
125
of scores has the larger 100
75
dispersion? 50
25
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

125
100
75
50
25
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
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Measures of Absolute Dispersion

Measures of absolute dispersion are expressed in the units of
the original observations.
There are three main measures of absolute dispersion:

The range
The semi-interquartile range (SIR)
Variance / standard deviation
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The Range
 The range is defined as the difference between the largest score in the set of
data and the smallest score in the set of data, X L – XS

 The range is used when

 you have ordinal data or
 you are presenting your results to people with little or no knowledge of
statistics
 What is the range of the following data:
4 8 1 6 6 2 9 3 6 9
 Twovery different sets of data can have the same range:
1 1 1 1 9 vs 1 3 5 7 9
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The Standard Deviation and the

Variance
Variance is the mean of the squared deviation scores
The larger the variance is, the more the scores deviate, on average, away
from the mean
The smaller the variance is, the less the scores deviate, on average, from
the mean
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The Standard Deviation and the

Variance
 When the deviate scores are squared in variance, their unit of measure is
squared as well
 E.g. If people’s weights are measured in pounds, then the variance of
the weights would be expressed in pounds2 (or squared pounds)
 Since squared units of measure are often awkward to deal with, the
square root of variance is often used instead
 The standard deviation is the square root of variance
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The Standard Deviation and the Variance (for

ungrouped data)
Sample- Population-
s: Standard Deviation σ: Standard Deviation
s2: Variance σ2: Variance

N is the population.
n is the sample.
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Computational Formula Example

xi xi - (xi -)
2

9
8
6
5
8
6
 = 42  = 0  = 12
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Computational Formula Example

xi xi - (xi -)
2

9
8
6
5
8
6
 = 42  = 0  = 12
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The Standard Deviation and the Variance

(for grouped data)
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Computational Formula Example

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Measures of Relative Dispersion

Measures of relative dispersion are unit-less and are used when one
wishes to compare the scatter of one distribution with another distribution.

Some measures of absolute dispersion:

Coefficient of Variation
Standard Score
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Coefficient of Variation
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Coefficient of Variation
Example: A laboratory technician studied recent instruments made with two
different instruments. The 1st measured the diameter of a ball bearing and
obtained a mean of 4.96 mm with SD of 0.022 mm. the second ball
measured the diameter of a metal rod and obtained a mean of 6.48 mm with
SD of 0.032 mm. which of the two was relatively more precise?
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Coefficient of Variation
Example: A laboratory technician studied recent instruments made with two
different instruments. The 1st measured the diameter of a ball bearing and
obtained a mean of 4.96 mm with SD of 0.022 mm. the second ball
measured the diameter of a metal rod and obtained a mean of 6.48 mm with
SD of 0.032 mm. which of the two was relatively more precise?

∴ Instrument #1 is relatively more precise.