Coefficient of Variation

PAT LOVIE
Volume 1, pp. 317–318

in

Encyclopedia of Statistics in Behavioral Science

ISBN-13: 978-0-470-86080-9
ISBN-10: 0-470-86080-4

Editors

Brian S. Everitt & David C. Howell

 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, 2005

Coefficient of Variation
Although the coefficient of variation (CV) is defined
for both distributions and for samples, it is in the
latter context, as a descriptive measure for data, that
it is generally encountered.
The CV of a sample of data is defined as the
sample standard deviation (SD) divided by the sample
mean (m), that is,
SD
CV = . (1)
m
The value is sometimes expressed as a percentage.
Two important characteristics of the CV are that it is
independent of both the units of measurement and the
magnitude of the data.
Suppose that we measure the times taken by
right-handed subjects to complete a tracking task
using a joystick held in either the right hand or
the left hand. The mean and SD of times for the
right-hand joystick (RH) group are 5 sec and 1 sec,
and those for the left-hand (LH) group are greater
at 12 sec and 1.5 sec. Then, CV RH = 1/5 = 0.20,
whereas CV LH = 1.5/12 = 0.125.
Here, we see that the relative variability is greater
for the RH group even though the SD is only two-
thirds of that for the LH group.
Equally well, if we had counted also the number
of errors (e.g., deviations of more than some fixed
amount from the required route), the CV would allow
us to compare the relative variability of errors to that
of times because it does not depend on the units of
measurement.
The notion of the CV is generally attributed to
Karl Pearson [2]. In an early article from 1896,
which attempts to provide a theoretical framework
for Galton’s rather informal ideas on correlation and
regression, Pearson used the CV for assessing the
relative variability of data on variables ranging from
stature of family members to skull dimensions of
ancient and modern races. Pearson pointed specifi-
cally to the fact that differences in relative variability
indicate ‘inequality of mutual correlations’ (or, simi-
larly, of mutual regressions).
A more recent application of the CV, especially
relevant to behavioral researchers working in exper-
imental fields, is as a means of assessing within
subject variability [1].
References
[1] Bland, J.M. & Altman, D.G. (1996). Statistics notes:
measurement error proportional to the mean, British
Medical Journal 313, 106.
[2] Pearson, K. (1896). Mathematical contributions to the the-
ory of evolution. III. Regression, heredity and panmixia,
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of Lon-
don, A 187, 253–318.
PAT LOVIE