Measures of Dispersion

In statistics, the measures of dispersion help to interpret the variability of data i.e. to know how
much homogenous or heterogeneous the data is. In simple terms, it shows how squeezed or
scattered the variable is.

Types of Measures of Dispersion:

There are two main types of dispersion methods in statistics which are:

 Absolute Measure of Dispersion

 Relative Measure of Dispersion

Absolute Measure of Dispersion:

An absolute measure of dispersion contains the same unit as the original data set. Absolute
dispersion method expresses the variations in terms of the average of deviations of observations
like standard or means deviations. It includes range, standard deviation, quartile deviation, etc.

The types of absolute measures of dispersion are:

Range: It is simply the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value given
in a data set. Example: 1, 3,5, 6, 7 => Range = 7 -1= 6

Variance: Deduct the mean from each data in the set then squaring each of them and adding
each square and finally dividing them by the total no of values in the data set is the variance.
Variance (σ2)=∑(X−μ)2/N. Variance is a measure of how data points differ from the mean.
According to Layman, a variance is a measure of how far a set of data (numbers) are spread out
from their mean (average) value.

Formula:
As we know already, the variance is the square of standard deviation, i.e.,

Variance = (Standard deviation) 2= σ2

here X (or x) = Value of Observation, μ = Population mean of all Values, n = Number of
observations in the sample set, x¯ = Sample mean, N = Total number of values in the population

Properties
The variance, var(X) of a random variable X has the following properties.

Var(X + C) = Var(X), where C is a constant.

Var(CX) = C2.Var(X), where C is a constant.

Var(aX + b) = a2.Var(X), where a and b are constants.

If X1, X2,……., Xn are n independent random variables, then

Var(X1 + X2 +……+ Xn) = Var(X1) + Var(X2) +……..+Var(Xn).

Now let’s have a look at the relationship between Variance and Standard Deviation.

Variance and Standard Deviation

Standard deviation is the positive square root of the variance. The symbols σ and s are used
correspondingly to represent population and sample standard deviations. Standard Deviation is a
measure of how spread out the data is. Its formula is simple; it is the square root of the variance
for that data set. It’s represented by the Greek symbol sigma (σ).

Standard Deviation:
The square root of the variance is known as the standard deviation i.e. S.D. = √σ.
Standard Deviation is a measure which shows how much variation (such as spread, dispersion,
spread,) from the mean exists. The standard deviation indicates a “typical” deviation from the
mean. It is a popular measure of variability because it returns to the original units of measure of
the data set. Like the variance, if the data points are close to mean, there is a small variation
whereas the data points are highly spread out from the mean, then it has a high variance.

Formula:
Quartiles and Quartile Deviation: The quartiles are values that divide a list of numbers into
quarters. The quartile deviation is half of the distance between the third and the first quartile.

Mean and Mean Deviation: The average of numbers is known as the mean and the arithmetic
mean of the absolute deviations of the observations from a measure of central tendency is known
as the mean deviation (also called mean absolute deviation).

Why Is Dispersion Important in Statistics?

The measures of dispersion are important as it helps in understanding how much a data is spread
(i.e. its variation) around a central value.

How To Calculate Dispersion?

Dispersion can be calculated using various measures like mean, standard deviation, variance, etc.

What is the Variance of the values 3, 8, 6, 10, 12, 9, 11, 10, 12, 7?

The variance of the following numbers will be 7.36.

What are the examples of dispersion measure?

Standard deviations, Range, Mean absolute difference, Median absolute deviation, Interquartile
change, Average deviation are the examples of measure of dispersion.