How to Calculate Range in Statistics

mbalectures June 15, 2010 Comments

Range is defined as the difference between the maximum and minimum values of the data.
Although Range is the simplest measure of dispersion and is easy to calculate but it is not a good
measure of dispersion because it ignores variation among all other values and depends upon only
two extreme values. However if there is a lack of time or the observations are homogenous then
range is a good measure of dispersion to use. The calculation of range for grouped and
ungrouped data is elaborated with the help of simple problems given below.

Range of Ungrouped Data

Problem: The following data show the weights (in pounds) of 25 boys: 108, 104, 120, 108, 110,
125, 103, 112, 99, 115, 114, 96, 116, 100, 129, 117, 119, 121, 112, 111, 120, 111, 121, 101, and
109, Find the range of data.

Arrange Data in Ascending Order:

96, 99, 100, 101, 103, 104, 108, 108, 109, 110, 111, 111, 112, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 119, 120,
120, 121, 121, 125, 129

Range of Frequency Distribution

In a frequency distribution range is the difference between upper class boundary of the last
interval and lower class boundary of the first interval.

Problem:  For the following frequency distribution, calculate the range.

Solution:

We know that:

Range = Upper class boundary of last interval – Lower class boundary of first interval
Therefore,

Quartile Deviation for Ungrouped Data

mbalectures June 15, 2010 17 Comments

 Quartile deviation or semi-interquartile range is the dispersion which shows the degree of spread
around the middle of a set of data. Since the difference between third and first quartiles is called
interquartile range therefore half of interquartile range is called semi-interquartile range also
known as quartile deviation. For both grouped and ungrouped data, quartile deviation can be
calculated by using the formula:

Coefficient of Quartile Deviation:

Coefficient of Quartile Deviation is used to compare the variation in two data. Since quartile
deviation is not affected by the extreme values therefore it is widely used in the data containing
extreme values. Coefficient of Quartile Deviation can be calculated by using the formula:

 
 

The concept of quartile deviation and coefficient of quartile deviation can be explained with the
help of simple problems for ungrouped data.

Ungrouped Data

Problem: Following are the runs scored by a batsman in last 20 test matches: 96, 70, 100, 96, 81,
84, 90, 89, 63, 90, 34, 75, 39, 82, 85, 86, 76, 64, 67, and 88. Calculate the Quartile Deviation and
Coefficient of Quartile Deviation.

Arrange data in ascending order:

34, 39, 63, 64, 67, 70, 75, 76, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90, 90, 96, 96, 100

First Quartile (Q1)

The calculation of First quartile is shown in the figure given below.

 

Third Quartile (Q3)

The formula for the calculation of third quartile is given as:

By putting the values into the formulas of quartile deviation and coefficient of quartile deviation
we get: