Page 1 of 15

CHAPTER 4

MEASURES OF DISPERSION, MOMENTS AND SKEWNESS

1. What is measure of dispersion?

The extent to which observations vary about their mean or other
averages is called as dispersion.

Absolute and relative dispersion:

An absolute measure of dispersion is one that measures the dispersion

in terms of the same units or in the square of units as the unit of data.
Example: Rupees, meters etc.
A relative measure of dispersion is one that is expressed in the form
ratio or percentage etc. it is useful for comparison of data of different
nature.

Types of dispersion:
i. Range.
ii. Semi-interquartile range or quartile deviation.
iii. Mean deviation.
iv. Standard deviation and variance.

Range:

The difference between the maximum value and minimum value of

data.
R=Xm - Xo

Where
Xm = maximum value.
Xo = minimum value.
Page 2 of 15

Quartile deviation:

𝑸𝟑−𝑸𝟏
Q.D= 𝟐

where
Q3= Third quartile.
Q1= First Quartile.

𝒉 Ʃ𝒇
Q1= L + ( 𝟒 – C.F)
𝒇

𝒉 Ʃ𝒇
Q3= L + 𝒇 (3* – C.F)
𝟒

It is the half of a difference between third quartile and

first quartile.

Q. Find quartile deviation.

Classes Frequency Class Boundaries C.F

30-39 8 29.5-39.5 8
40-49 87 39.5-49.5 95
50-59 190 49.5-59.5 285 Q1
60-69 304 59.5-69.5 589
70-79 211 69.5-79.5 800 Q3
80-89 85 79.5-89.5 885
90-99 20 89.5-99.5 905
Page 3 of 15

SOLUTION:

𝒉 Ʃ𝒇
Q1= L + ( – C.F)
𝒇 𝟒
𝟏𝟎 𝟗𝟎𝟓
= 49.5 + ( – 95)
𝟏𝟗𝟎 𝟒
=56

𝒉 Ʃ𝒇
Q3= L + 𝒇 (3* – C.F)
𝟒
𝟏𝟎 𝟗𝟎𝟓
=69.5 + 𝟐𝟏𝟏 (3* – 589)
𝟒
=74

𝑸𝟑−𝑸𝟏
Q.D= 𝟐
𝟕𝟒−𝟓𝟔
=
𝟐
=9
Page 4 of 15

Mean deviation:

It is defined as arithmetic mean of the deviations measured from

mean. All deviations are being counted as positive.

Ungrouped data Grouped data

Ʃ |𝑋 − 𝑋̅| Ʃ 𝑓|𝑋 − 𝑋̅|
𝑛 Ʃ𝑓

Find Mean deviation:

FOR UNGROUPED DATA

32, 36, 36, 37, 39, 41, 45, 46, 48

𝑥 |𝑥 -𝑋̅|
32 8
36 4
36 4
37 3
39 1
41 1
45 5
46 6
48 8
Page 5 of 15

Ʃ𝑋
𝑋̅=
𝑛
360
= = 40
9

Ʃ |𝑋−𝑋̅|
M.D = 𝑛

40
= = 4.4
9

Mean Deviation:

FOR GROUPED DATA

Class frequency 𝑥 𝑓𝑥 |𝑥 -𝑋̅| 𝑓 |𝑥 -𝑋̅|

65-84 9 74.5 670.5 -48 432
85-104 10 94.5 945 -28 280
105-124 17 114.5 1946.5 -8 136
125-144 10 134.5 1345 12 120
145-164 5 154.5 772.5 32 160
165-184 4 174.5 698 52 208
185-204 5 194.5 972.5 72 360
60 7350.0 1696.0

Ʃ𝑓𝑥 7350
𝑋̅= = = 122.5
Ʃ𝑓 60

Ʃ 𝑓|𝑋−𝑋̅|
M.D=
Ʃ𝑓
1696
= = 28.27
60
Page 6 of 15

STANDARD DEVIATION AND VARIANCE:

Variance is defined as the mean of squares of all the observations from their
mean.

Ungrouped data Grouped data

Variance = S 2
Ʃ (𝑥 − 𝑥̅ )2 Ʃ𝑓(𝑥 − 𝑥̅ )2
𝑛 Ʃ𝑓
Standard deviation =
Ʃ (𝑥 − 𝑥̅ )2 Ʃ𝑓(𝑥 − 𝑥̅ )2
S √ √
𝑛 Ʃ𝑓

Example:
For ungrouped data

X (𝑥 − 𝑥̅ )2
7 100
8 81
10 49
13 16
14 9
19 4
20 9
25 64
26 81
28 121

Ʃ𝑥 170
𝑥̅ = = = 17
𝑛 10

Ʃ (𝑥−𝑥̅ )2 534
S2 = = = 53.4
𝑛 10
Ʃ (𝑥−𝑥̅ )2
S.D= √ = √53.4 = 7.31
𝑛
Page 7 of 15

For grouped data

Classes Frequency X fX (𝑥 − 𝑥̅ )2 𝑓(𝑥 − 𝑥̅ )2

5-9 6 7 42 72.25 433.5
10-14 4 12 28 9.9225 39.69
15-19 2 17 34 3.4225 6.845
20-24 3 22 44 220.19 660.575
25-29 5 27 135 140.42 702.11
20 303 1842.72

Ʃ𝑓𝑥 303
𝑋̅= Ʃ𝑓 = 20 = 15.15

2 Ʃ𝑓(𝑥−𝑥̅ )2 1842.72
S = = = 92.13
Ʃ𝑓 20

Ʃ𝑓(𝑥−𝑥̅ )2
S.D = √ = √92.13 = 9.598
Ʃ𝑓
Page 8 of 15

Relative dispersions
• Co-efficient of Q.D
𝑄3 − 𝑄1
𝑄3 + 𝑄1
• Co-efficient of M.D
𝑀. 𝐷
𝑋̅
• Co-efficient of variation
𝑆. 𝐷
𝑋̅

Q1. Marks of two students are given which student is more

consistent?

A 5 3 2 6 4
B 4 7 0 4 5

X1 (𝑋1 -𝑋̅1 )2 X2 (𝑋2 -𝑋̅2 )2

5 1 4 0
3 1 7 9
2 4 0 16
6 4 4 0
4 0 5 1
Page 9 of 15

Ʃ𝑋 20 Ʃ𝑋2 20
𝑋̅1 = = =4 𝑋̅2 = = =4
𝑛 4 𝑛 5
Ʃ ( 𝑋1 − 𝑋̅1 )2 Ʃ ( 𝑋2 − 𝑋̅2 )2
𝑆12 = 𝑆22 =
𝑛1 𝑛2
10 26
𝑆12 = =2 𝑆22 = = 5.2
5 5
S1= √2= 1.414 S2= √5.2= 2.28
𝑆 1.414 𝑆 2.28
C.V(X1)= 𝑋̅1 = 4 = 0.35 C.V(X2)= 𝑋̅2 = 4 = 0.57
1 2

Student A is more consistent as the value of C.V is less for

A student.
Page 10 of 15

𝑥 Team A Team B
𝑓1 𝑓1 X 𝑓1 (X-𝑋̅1 )2 𝑓2 𝑓2 X 𝑓2 (X-𝑋̅2 )2
0 27 0 30.3372 17 0 24.48
1 9 9 0.0324 9 9 0.36
2 8 16 7.0688 6 12 3.84
3 5 15 18.818 5 15 16.2
4 4 16 34.5744 3 12 23.52
53 56 90.8308 40 48 68.4

Ʃ𝑓 𝑋 56
𝑋̅𝐴 = Ʃ𝑓1 = 53 = 1.06
1

Ʃ𝑓1 (X−𝑋̅1 )2 90.8308

𝑆𝐴 = √ =√ = 1.309
Ʃ𝑓 53
1.309
C.V (A) = = 1.2350
1.06

Ʃ𝑓2 𝑋 48
𝑋̅𝐵 = Ʃ𝑓 = 40 = 1.2
Ʃ𝑓2 (X−𝑋̅2 )2 68.4
𝑆𝐵 = √ = √ 40 = 1.307
Ʃ𝑓
1.309
C.V (B) = = 1.089
1.2

SINCE C.V (B) IS LESS THAN C.V (A). THEREFORE

TEAM B IS MORE CONSISTENT.
Page 11 of 15

MOMENTS:
A moment designates the power to which deviations are
raised before averaging them.

Ungroup data Grouped data

Ʃ(X−𝑋̅) Ʃ𝑓(X−𝑋̅)
𝑚1 = 𝑚1 =
𝑛 Ʃ𝑓
Ʃ(X−𝑋̅)2 Ʃ𝑓(X−𝑋̅)2
𝑚2 = 𝑚2 =
𝑛 Ʃ𝑓
Ʃ(X−𝑋̅)3 Ʃ𝑓(X−𝑋̅)3
𝑚3 = 𝑚3 =
𝑛 Ʃ𝑓
Ʃ(X−𝑋̅)4 Ʃ𝑓(X−𝑋̅)4
𝑚4 = 𝑚4 =
𝑛 Ʃ𝑓

Example 4.13
Calculate first four mean moments.

𝑥 (X − 𝑋̅) (X − 𝑋̅)2 (X − 𝑋̅)3 (X − 𝑋̅)4

32 -8 64 -512 4096
36 -4 16 -64 256
36 -4 16 -64 256
37 -3 9 -27 81
39 -1 1 -1 1
41 1 1 1 1
45 5 25 125 625
46 6 36 216 1296
48 8 64 512 4096
360 0 232 186 10708
Page 12 of 15

Ʃ𝑋 360
𝑋̅= 𝑛 = 9 = 40

Ʃ(X−𝑋̅)
𝑚1 = =0
𝑛

Ʃ(X−𝑋̅)2 232
𝑚2 = = = 25.78
𝑛 9

Ʃ(X−𝑋̅)3 186
𝑚3 = = = 20.67
𝑛 9

Ʃ(X−𝑋̅)4 10708
𝑚4 = = = 1189.78
𝑛 9
Page 13 of 15

SKEWNESS
Lack of symmetry is called as skewness.

Formulas for skewness:

𝑚32
1. 𝑠𝑘 = 3 (by moments)
𝑚2

2. Karl Pearson first formula:

𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛−𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒
𝑠𝑘 =
𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

3. Karl Pearson second formula:

3(𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛−𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛)
𝑠𝑘 =
𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

4. Bowley Formula:

𝑄1+𝑄3 − 2𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛
𝑠𝑘 =
𝑄3−𝑄1
Page 14 of 15

Mean = Median = Mode symmetrical

TYPES OF SKEWENESS

i. R.T > L.T ii. L.T > R.T

mean>median>mode Mode>median>mean
Page 15 of 15

Kurtosis:
Degree of Peakedness is called kurtosis.

𝑚
k = 𝑚42
2

If value of k is 3 (Mesokurtic)
If value of k is > 3 (Leptokurtic)
If value of k is < 3 (Platykurtic)