Measures of Variability or Dispersion

1. Range
2. Mean Absolute Deviation
3. Standard Deviation
4. Quartile Deviation

RANGE is the simplest of the measures of dispersion. It is the difference between the highest and the
lowest items in the distribution

MEAN ABSOLUTE DEVIATION is the average of the absolute deviation from the mean of the distribution.
Σǀ x−xǀ
MAD =
N

STANDARD DEVIATION is the positive square root of the average deviations from the mean of the
distribution. It is a measure of the homogeneity of the data.

Formula for Ungrouped Data

√
2
Σ(x −x)
σ= ¿ population standard deviation
N
¿

√
2
Σ(x −x)
s= sample standard deviation
n−1 ¿
¿

The above formula would be very tedious and too cumbersome to perform. The above formula can be
transformed to the following formula

√
2
σ = NΣ x −¿ ¿ ¿
¿

√
2
and s = nΣ x −¿ ¿ ¿
¿

Quartile Deviation or Semi-Interquartile Deviation

Q3−Q1
QD =
2

Determine the
a) mean absolute deviation,
b) standard deviation and
c) quartile deviation of the numbers
3, 8, 5, 7, 7, 5, 6, 7.

a. First step is to determine the mean.

Σ x 48
x= = =6
n 8
Then, substitute in the formula
 Σǀ x−xǀ
MAD =
N
= Σ ¿¿
MAD= 1.25

Using the computed mean, then substitute in the formula

√√
2
Σ(x −x)
s= ¿
N
¿
= ¿ ¿ ¿
¿
s = 1.5

Using the equation

√
2
σ = NΣ x −¿ ¿ ¿
¿

√
σ = 8(306)−¿ ¿ ¿
¿

√
(2448)−(2304)
= 64 ¿
¿
=
√
9
4
σ = 1.5

c. Quartile Deviation
First step is to arrange the data in ascending order
3, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8
N
The first quartile is = 2, the first quartile is the second data which is 5
4
3N
The third quartile is = 6, the third quartile is the sixth data which is 7.
4
Q −Q1
QD = 3
2
7−5
=
2
QD = 1

GROUPED DATA
Σ f ǀ x−xǀ
MAD =
N

√
2
σ = NΣ f x −¿ ¿ ¿ SD for Population
¿

√
2
s = nΣ f x −¿ ¿ ¿ SD for Sample
¿
 Q3−Q1
QD =
2

Using the previous distribution, determine the mean absolute deviation, standard deviation, and quartile
deviation.

Class Frequency Class Mark

Interval f (x ) |x−x| f |x −x| fx fx
2

60 – 64 2 62 28.81 57.62 124 7688

55 – 59 12 57 23.81 285.74 684 38988
50 – 54 20 52 18.81 376.23 1040 54080
45 – 49 32 47 13.81 441.97 1504 70688
40 – 44 36 42 80.81 317.21 1512 63504
35 – 39 58 37 3.81 221.07 2146 79402
30 – 34 64 32 1.19 76.07 2048 65636
25 – 29 58 27 6.19 358.93 1566 42282
20 – 24 42 22 11.19 469.92 924 20328
15 – 19 23 17 16.19 372.34 391 6647
10 – 14 15 12 21.19 317.83 180 2160
5–9 4 7 26.19 104.75 28 196
Σ f =366 Σ f |x−x|=3399.67 Σ fx=12147 2
Σ f x =451499

Σ fx 12147
x= = =33.19
Σf 366
Σ f |x−x| 3399.67
MAD= = =9.3
Σf 366
s= √ n Σ f x 2−¿ ¿ ¿

Class Interval Frequency ( f ¿ ¿ cf

60 – 64 2 366
55 – 59 12 364
50 – 54 20 352
45 – 49 32 332
40 – 44 36 300
35 – 39 58 264
30 – 34 64 206
25 – 29 58 142
20 – 24 42 84
15 – 19 23 42
10 – 14 15 19
5–9 4 4

Q3=39.5+ [ 3

36 ]
( 3664 )−264 5=39.5+ 10.5 5=40.96
[ ]
36
 [( 4 )
]
366
−84
Q =24 .5+
1
58
5=24 .5+
[ ]
7 .5
58
5=25.15
40.96−25.15
Q D= =7.9
2