Measures of

Dispersion

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

Measures of Dispersion
Which

of the
distributions of scores
has the larger
dispersion?

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

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, XL 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
Two

very different sets of data can have the same range:

1 1 1 1 9 vs 1 3 5 7 9

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

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 peoples 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

The Standard Deviation and the

Variance (for ungrouped data)
Samples: Standard Deviation
s2: Variance

N is the population.
n is the sample.

Population: Standard Deviation

2: Variance

Computational Formula Example

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Computational Formula Example

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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.

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Standard Score

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Standard Score
Example: Mario got a grade of 75% in English and a grade of 90%
in History. The mean grade in English is 65% and SD is 10%,
whereas in History, the mean grade is 80% and SD is 20%, in
which subject did Mario perform well?

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Standard Score
Example: Mario got a grade of 75% in English and a grade of 90%
in History. The mean grade in English is 65% and SD is 10%,
whereas in History, the mean grade is 80% and SD is 20%, in
which subject did Mario perform well?