Measures of Variation

Range
• The range of a data set is the difference between the maximum and
minimum data entries in the set. To find the range, the data must be
quantitative.
Range = (Maximum data entry) - (Minimum data entry)
Example
Variance and Standard Deviation

• The deviation of an entry x in a population data set is the difference

between the entry and the mean m of the data set.
Variance and Standard Deviation
Observations about the standard deviation.

• The standard deviation measures the variation of the data set about
the mean and has the same units of measure as the data set.
• The standard deviation is always greater than or equal to 0. When s =
0, the data set has no variation and all entries have the same value.
• As the entries get farther from the mean (that is, more spread out),
the value of s increases.
Population Variance and Standard Deviation
Example
Review of Formulas for Variance and
Standard Devistion
Example Sample Variance and Standard
Deviation
 Normal Distribution
Many real-life data sets have distributions that are
approximately symmetric and bell-shaped (see figure below).
For instance, the distributions of men’s and women’s heights in
the United States are approximately symmetric and bell-shaped
(see the figures at the left and bottom left). Later in the text,
you will study bell-shaped distributions in greater detail. For
now, however, the Empirical Rule can help you see how
valuable the standard deviation can be as a measure of
variation.
Chebychev’s Theorem

• The Empirical Rule applies only to (symmetric) bell-shaped

distributions. What if the distribution is not bell-shaped, or what if the
shape of the distribution is not known?
Empirical Rule
• For data sets with distributions that are approximately symmetric and
bell-shaped (see figure above), the standard deviation has these
characteristics.
• 1. About 68% of the data lie within one standard deviation of the
mean.
• 2. About 95% of the data lie within two standard deviations of the
mean.
• 3. About 99.7% of the data lie within three standard deviations of the
mean.
Standard Deviation for Grouped Data
Compare variation in different data sets
• To compare variation in different data sets, you can use standard
deviation when the data sets use the same units of measure and have
means that are about the same.
Example: