Measures of Dispersion

T he term dispersion means the spreadness of the observations from the average. A quantity that measures
this characteristic is called a measure of dispersion, or measure of variability. The observations may be
close to the center or they may be spread away from the center. If the observations are close to the center,
we say that dispersion is small. If the observations are spread away from the center, we say that dispersion is
large. A measure of central tendency and measure of dispersion gives an adequate description of the data.
Properties of good Measure of Dispersion:
 It is easy to calculate and simple to understand.
 It should be least affected by sampling fluctuations.
 It should be easy for comparison purpose.
 It should not be rough measure.
Types of Measure of Dispersion:
1. Absolute measure of Dispersion 2. Relative measure of dispersion
Absolute measure of Dispersion:
An absolute measure of dispersion is that which measures the variation present between the observations in
terms of the same units as the units of the variable.
Absolute measure of Dispersion:
A relative measure of dispersion is that which measures the variation present between the observations
relative to their average. These measure are free of the units in which the original data is measured. If the
original data is in rupees or kilograms, we do not use these units with relative measure of dispersion. It is
used to compare the variation between two or more sets of data.
Types of absolute measure of dispersion:-
(i) The Range
(ii) The Semi-interquartile Range OR the Quartile Deviation.
(iii) The mean Deviation or the average deviation.
(iv) The variance and the Standard Deviation
RANGE:-The Range R, is the difference between the largest and the smallest observation in a set of data.
R = Xmax - Xmin
Where,
Xm = Maximum value in the data set. Xo = Minimum value in the data set.
For group data,
Range is the difference between upper class boundary of the highest class and lower class boundary of the
smallest class.
OR
Range is the difference between mid-value of the highest class and mid-value of the smallest class.
R = Xmax - Xmin
Where,
Xm = Mid-value of the highest class. Xo = Mid-value of the smallest class.
Merits of Range:
 It is easy to calculate and simple to understand.
 It gives the results very quickly.
 It is good measure for rough data.
 It computation requires only the extreme values of the items of a series.
De-Merits of Range:
 It is not reliable measure.
 It gives no idea about the other values in a set of data except the extreme ends.
 We cannot find range in case of open end frequency table.
 It is affected by sampling fluctuations.
Coefficient of Range: The coefficient of range is obtained by dividing the difference between largest and
smallest values by the sum of the largest and smallest values. i.e.
X m−X o
Coefficient of range = X m +X o
Inter-quartile range. The inter-quartile range is the difference between the upper and the lower quartiles in
a set of data
I . Q. R=Q 3 −Q1
 The Quartile Deviation/Semi-inter-Quartile range is
The Quartile Deviation/Semi-inter-Quartile range:
the half of the difference between the upper and the lower quartiles in a set of data Semi-inter-
Q3 −Q1
Q. D=
Quartile range/ 2
Coefficient of Quartile deviation: The coefficient of quartile deviation is obtained by dividing the
difference between upper and lower quartiles by the sum of the upper and lower quartiles. i.e.
Q 3 −Q 1
Coefficient of Q.D = Q 3 +Q 1
The Mean Deviation:- The mean deviation is defined as the arithmetic mean of the absolute deviations of
the observations measured either from the mean , median or mode.
The mean deviation is denoted by (M.D) and defined by
For ungrouped data
M.D =
∑| x - { x̄|
OR M . D =
∑ | X - X med| OR M . D =
∑ | X - X mod e| ¿
n n n

M.D =
∑ f | x - x| OR M.D=
∑ f | X - X med| OR M . D =
∑ f | X - X mod e|
For grouped data ∑f ∑f ∑f
Coefficient of Mean Deviation:
The coefficient of mean deviation is obtained by dividing the mean deviation by mean/median/mode
by the mean/median/mode. i.e.
M . D mean M .D median
Coefficient of M.D = mean Coefficient of M.D = median

Example # 17. Find the mean deviation from the mean and from median
X 32 36 36 37 39 41 45 46 48 360
|X− X̄| 8 4 4 3 1 1 5 6 8 40
X-Xmed 7 3 3 2 0 2 6 7 9 39
Mean = 360/9 = 40 Median = 39

∑M.D= | x- {x̄| = 40 = 4.4¿M.D= ∑| X- Xmed| = 39 = 4.3¿Co-eficient of M.D= M.D = 4.4 =0.1 or M.D = 4.3 = 0.1 ¿
n 9 n 9 X 40 Median 39
Example # 18. Calculate mean deviation for the following data
Class F x |X− X̄| |X −X med| f |X−X med| f |X− X̄|
86---90 6 88 9.833 10 60 58.99
91---95 4 93 4.833 5 20 19.33
96---100 10 98 0.167 0 0 1.67
101---105 6 103 5.167 5 30 31.00
106---110 3 108 10.167 10 30 30.50
111---115 1 113 15.167 15 15 15.167
TOTAL 30 155 156.67
Mean = 97.83 Median = 98
 ∑M.D= f|x- {x̄ | = 156.67 = 5.2 ¿M.D= ∑f|X- Xmed| = 15 = 5.167¿Co-eficent of M.D= M.D = 5.2 =0.053 or M.D = 5.167 = 0.052¿
∑f 30 ∑f 30 X 97.83 Median 98
Variance:- The Variance is defined as the arithmetic mean of the squared deviations of the observations
2
from their mean. The population variance is denoted by σ and its estimate sample variance is denoted by S 2
and defined as
For ungrouped data

σ
2
=
∑ ( X −μ )2
Population variance N

(∑ )
2
∑2( X− X̄ )2 1 2 (∑ X )
S= OR X −
n n n
For grouped data

(∑ )
2
2 ∑ f ( X− X̄ )
2
1 2 ( ∑ fX )
S = OR fX −
∑f ∑f ∑f
Standard deviation:-
The positive square root of the variance is called Standard Deviation. The population standard
deviation is denoted by σ and its estimate sample standard deviation is denoted by S and defined as

Coefficient of variation:
The standard deviation is an absolute measure of dispersion its relative measure of dispersion is
called co-efficient of standard deviation or coefficient of variation and is defined by
S
C .V = × 100
x
This co-efficient of variation is used to compare two sets of data which are expressed in different units of
measurements e.g one may be in hours and the other may be in kilograms. The C.V is independent of units
used.
Example # 19. Find Variance, S.D and Co-efficient of Variation.
X 2 3 6 8 11 30
( x−x) -4 -3 0 2 5 0
2 16 9 0 4 25 54
( x−x)

∑X= x=30=6
C.V ∑

√
2
Example # 20. Find Variance , S.Dn and 5 ( x - { x̄ ) S 3. 286
¿S = X̄ ) ¿ = √10.(5X¿C .V−= X̄ x) 10 = xf10( X= 54−.76 X̄%¿¿)
2 2

∑
Class F X (X−
20---24 1
2 22(x - { x̄) 54 -17 n
2
289
x 6 289
25---29 4 S = 27 = = 1 0 . 8
-12 144 576

37n 5 -7-2
30---34 8 32 49 392
35---39 11 4 44
 40---44 15 42 3 9 135
45---49 9 47 8 64 576
50---54 2 52 13 169 338
TOTAL 50 2350

Properties of Variance:-
∑ f 5 0 ∑ f 39
 The variance of a constant is equal to zero i.e. Var(a )=0
√
f2 ∑ (x- {x̄)2 2350 ∑f(x- {x̄)2 6 . 85
S = = = 4 7 ¿ S = ¿ = √ 47 = 6 . 8 5 ¿ C . V = x 10 = 1 7 . 5 6 ¿

where 'a' is any constant.

 Variance is independent of origin i.e. Var ( X −a )=Var ( X ) and Var ( X +a )=Var( X ) Where ‘a’ is any
constants
X 1
2 Var ( )= 2 Var ( X )
 Variance is dependent of scale i.e. Var(bX )=b Var ( X ) and b b Where ‘a & b’ are
any constants.
 Var ( X±Y )=Var( X )±Var (Y ) if X and Y are independent random variables.
2 2
2 n1 S 1 +n2 S 2
S c=
 The combined variance for two sets of data denoted by S2c is given as. n1 +n2
 Variance is positive quantity. The variance is expressed in square of the units of the observations.

Standardized Variable:- A variable is defined to be a standardized variable if it is expressed in

terms of deviation from its mean and divided by its standard deviation. It is denoted by Z.
 A variable that has mean “0” and Variance “1” is called standard variable
 Values of standard variable is called standard scores
 Values of standard variable i.e standard scores are unit-less
x- x
Z=
 Construction S
 The mean of standardized variable is zero and variance is equal to one.

Example # 21. Construct standardized variable for the

X following data
∑ 32
X ( X − X̄ ) 2
Z ( Z −Z̄ )2 X̄ =
n
=
4
=8
54
3 25 -1.3624 1.8561 S 2x= =13 . 5
0.2970 4
6 4 -0.5450 X− X̄ X −8
Z= =
Sx 3 . 67
 0.6682
11 9 0.81741
Z̄ =
∑ Z =0
12 16 1.0899 1.1879 n
4 . 009
32 54 0 4.009 S 2z = ≃1
4
Example # 22. The industry in which sales rep Mr. Bilal works has mean annual sales=$2,500 standard
deviation=$500. The industry in which sales rep Mr. Pervaiz works has mean annual sales=$4,800
Standard deviation =$600. Last year Mr. Bilal’s sales were $4,000 and Mr. Pervaiz’s sales were $6,000.
Which of the representatives would you hire if you had one sales position to fill?
X B - { X̄ B 4000 -2500
ZB = = =3 ¿
SB 500
X P - { X̄ P 6000 - 4800
ZP = = =2¿
SP 600
So Mr. Bilal is the best choice.
Example # 23. A manufacturer of television tubes has two types of tubes A & B. The tubes have respective
mean life-times X A =1495 HR∧X B=1895 HR and standard deviations S A =280 HR∧S B =310 HR . By
calculating the coefficient of variation in each case, find which tube is more consistent.