Average Deviation

• The average deviation from the mean is

calculated as the average difference between
each observation and the mean of the
variable.
• The average deviation is problematic because
the positive and negative deviations cancel
each other out and average to zero; therefore
the average deviation does not provide useful
information
 Variance

• The issue of the average deviation averaging

to zero can be solved by using either the
absolute deviation from the mean or the
squared deviation from the mean.
• Variance is calculated as the average of the
squared deviations about the mean for a set
of observations for both raw (ungrouped)
and frequency (grouped) data.
• The variance of a variable is one of the most
commonly used measures of dispersion and
it provides numerical information about the
amount of variation within the values of a
variable.
• The larger the variance, the more spread out
the data is; a lower variance indicates a lower
range of values.
 Standard Deviation
• The standard deviation of a variable is the
square root of the variance of the variable.
• The standard deviation measures how tightly
a set of values is clustered around the mean.
• If a set of numbers is close to the average
value then a low standard deviation is
expected. A lower standard deviation would
likely be an indicator of stability. In contrast,
if the set of numbers is spread across a
greater range it may present a high standard
deviation.
• As with the variance, the standard deviation
can be calculated for both raw (ungrouped)
and frequency (grouped) data.
• APPLICATION
• The variance and the standard deviation can
be affected by outliers i.e. a few very large or
very small observations (the same applies to
the mean).
• Due to this, if the distribution is skewed it is
preferable to use a measure of variation that
is not affected by outliers e.g. the
interquartile range
 Exercise 1
The output below was generated for two
variables: attention control and age

Attention
Control Age
N Valid 200 200
Missing 0 0
Mean 12.55 27.23
Median 13.00 25.50
Std. Deviation 2.401 4.832
Minimum 6 20
Maximum 19 37
Percentiles 25 11.00 23.00
75 14.00 31.00
• What is the range for attention control in the sample?
• What is the range for age in the sample?
• What is the fiftieth percentile for attention control in
the sample?
• What is the lower quartile for attention control in the
sample?
• What is the interquartile range for age in the sample?
• Based on the data above, would the mean be a
suitable measure of central tendency to use as a basis
to calculate variation for attention control in the
sample? Please justify your answer.
• Based on the data above, would the mean be a
suitable measure of central tendency to use as a basis
to calculate variation for age in the sample? Please
justify your answer.