Measures of

Lesson 2.3
Dispersion, Kurtosis
and Skewness
 Measures of Dispersion
Measures of Dispersion indicates the extent to which individual items in a series are scattered about an average. In most
cases, it is used to describe how closely or how different the observations in a given data set. For example, we want to know
how variable the heights a specific variety of coconuts planted in different regions of the country or can we say that the
blood pressure of 100 selected males with diabetes is somehow close to each other?
Furthermore, it is used to determine the extent of scatter so that steps may be taken to control the existing variation. It is
also used as measure of reliability of the average value. In addition, it can be used to compare data sets and informs us
which data sets is less or more variable. For example, we can determine the whether the life span of male dog is more
variable than the females or can we say that harvest (kg/hectare) of a certain variety of rice is more precise than the other
varieties? All of these can be answered through the use of measures of dispersion.
General Classifications of Measures of Dispersion
1. Measures of Absolute Dispersion
2. Measures of Relative Dispersion
Measures of Absolute Dispersion
The measures of absolute dispersion are expressed in the units of the original observations.
They cannot be used to compare variations of two data sets when the averages of these data
sets differ a lot in value or when the observations differ in units of measurement.
2.3.1.1 The Range
The range of a set of measurement s is the difference between the largest and smallest values.
R=maximum value-minimum value
Example:
The IQ scores of 5 members of the Morales’ family are 108, 112, 127, 116, and 113. Find the
range.
Therefore, the range is
R=127-108=19
Measures of Absolute Dispersion
2.3.1.2 The Standard
Deviation and Variance
For a finite population of size N,
the population variance is
The population variance , can be estimated by
the sample variance , where
And the population standard σ deviation can be
estimated by the sample standard deviation s,
where

And the population standard

deviation is
Measures of Absolute Dispersion
Example: A sample of 5 households showed the following number of household
members: 3, 8, 5, 5, and 4. Find the variance and the standard deviation.
Since the data came from samples, then sample variance is and sample standard
deviation are computed.
First compute the sample mean

Now the variance is

And the Standard Deviation is

Measure 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.
2.3.2.1 Coefficient of Variation
The coefficient of variation, CV, is the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean and
is usually expressed in percentage. It is computed as

Lower or smaller value of coefficient of variation indicates a relatively less variable

data set or distribution. A more heterogeneous data set is indicted by higher coefficient of
variation.
Measure of Relative Dispersion
Example 1: Let the coefficient of variation for dataset A is 10.25% and the coefficient of variation for
dataset B is 15.73%. What does this information tell us?
This indicate that data set A is relatively more precise or less heterogeneous than data set B since the
coefficient of variation for dataset A is lower that the coefficient of variation of dataset B.
Example 2: Below are the systolic blood pressure of selected men and women ages 60 -65 years old;
Men : 145 130 125 128 130 120 132
Women: 118 120 135 125 122 137 140
Which has a relatively more disperse systolic BP, men or women?
Measure of Relative Dispersion
Solution:

1. Compute the mean and standard deviation for both groups

Mean Standard Deviation

Men 130.00 7.72

Women 128.14 8.97

2. Compute the CV for both groups.

CV(Men) = 5.94% CV(Women) = 7.00%

3. Compare the computed CVs and make conclusion.

Since the CV of women (7.00%) is higher than the CV of men (5.94%), therefore the systolic
blood pressure of women is relatively more disperse than men.
Try this
Try this

1. What are the variance and standard deviation of

patient wait times for offices with a wait-tracking
system?
2. What are the variance and standard deviation of
patient wait times for visits to offices without a wait
tracking system?
3. Do offices with a wait-tracking system have shorter
patient wait times than offices without a wait-tracking
system? Explain.
Try This
On 16 days, a restaurant had the following numbers of orders for chicken and steak:
Chicken: 46 55 43 48 54 65 36 40 51 53
64 32 41 46 53 47
Steak: 39 41 25 30 46 36 37 23 30 33
50 44 41 28 35 37

Calculate the mean, median, mode, standard deviation, variance and CV and determine which item the
number of order is relatively more variable.
Kurtosis
Kurtosis It provides a measurement about the
extremities (i.e. tails) of the distribution of data,
and therefore provides an indication of the
presence of outliers.

It is commonly thought that kurtosis is a measure

of flatness or peakedness of a distribution, but this
is not always the case. Kurtosis is about the
extremities of distribution and not about the center
of the distribution. A wider distribution means is it
more variable or more dispersed. Kurtosis can be
platykurtic, mesokurtic or leptokurtic.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
s:

le size, Xi is the ith X value, X is the average and s is the sample standard deviation. Note the exponent in the summation. It is “4”. The kurtosis is referred to as the “fourth standardized central moment for the

Kurtosis

Formula:

Excel Formula:
Interpreting Kurtosis
Dr. Donald Wheeler defines kurtosis as:

“The kurtosis parameter is a measure of the combined weight of the tails relative to the rest of
the distribution.”

That is why kurtosis is all about the tails of the distribution – not the peakedness or
flatness. It measures the tail-heaviness of the distribution.

Using the above equation, the kurtosis for a normal distribution is 3. Thus Kurtosis
may take on values below or above 3.
Interpreting Kurtosis
Most Software use the formula in Excel

“This formula does two things. It considers; the sample size and it subtracts 3 from the kurtosis.
With this equation, the kurtosis of a normal distribution is 0. This is really the excess kurtosis,
but most software packages refer to it as simply kurtosis. The last equation is used here. So, if a
dataset has a positive kurtosis, it has more in the tails than the normal distribution. If a dataset
has a negative kurtosis, it has less in the tails than the normal distribution. ”
(https://www.spcforexcel.com/knowledge/basic-statistics/are-skewness-and-kurtosis-useful-statistics#kurtosis)
Skewness
Skewness is a measure of symmetry or
asymmetry of a distribution.

If the skewness of S is zero, then the

distribution represented by S is perfectly
symmetric. If the skewness is negative,
then the distribution is skewed to the left,
while if the skew is positive then the
distribution is skewed to the right.

This Photo by
Unknown Author
is licensed under
CC BY-SA
Skewness
Formula Note: The value of Sk may be positive, zero, or
negative.
• Positively skewed or skewed to the right,
Mean > Median
Excel Formula • Negatively Skewed or skewed to the right,
Mean < Median
• Symmetric Distribution,
Mean = Median
 Supplemental Videos
To have additional understanding of measures of variability how to compute standard deviation,
variance and coefficient of variation using EXCEL and using calculator, please visit the following sites;
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7WTQ0H0Acc
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDAd_QHKoOg&t=21s
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McCoCvogTQ4
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpLABdyepNk
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s00gOvvdlY
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI1wzkuKS6Y&t=57s
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0RkssU0ZI0
References
Anderson DR, Sweeney DJ. 2018. Statistics for Business and Economics. Boston: MA: Cengage Learning.
Anderson DR, Sweeney DJ. 2016. Essentials of Modern Business Statistics with Microsoft Excel. Boston: MA:
Cengage Learning.
Anderson DR, Stamford CT, Sweeney DJ, Williams TA. 2015. Modern Business Statistics with Microsoft Office
Excel. Cengage Learning.
Reyes, C. and Saren, L. ELEMENTARY STATISTICS TEXT/WORKBOOK. National Bookstore, Mandaluyong City
Walpole, R. PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS. NY: Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc
https://www.spcforexcel.com/
http://www.real-statistics.com/