Measures of Variability/Dispersion

Variability refers to how spread apart the values/observations of the distribution are or how much the
values/observations vary from each other

There are four measures of variability: the range, mean absolute deviation, variance, and standard
deviation.

FOUR MEASURES OF VARIABILITY

1. Range (R). The range is the difference between the highest value and the lowest value. It is the
simplest measure of variability to calculate. The formula is as follows:

Examples:
a. Find the range of the following group of numbers: 10, 12, 5, 16, 7, 13, 4.
Solution:
❖ The highest number is 16, and the lowest number is 4, so 16 - 4 = 12.
Therefore, the range is 12.

b. Given the frequency distribution table below, compute for R.

Scores of 40 Students in a 60-point Exam
C.I. f
53 – 58 3
47 – 52 4
41 – 46 1
35 – 40 2
29 – 34 10
23 – 28 11
17 – 22 4
11 – 16 3
5 – 10 2
N = 40
Solution:
First, determine the class boundaries. So we have,

C.I. f CB
53 – 58 3 52.5 – 58.5
47 – 52 4 46.5 – 52.5
41 – 46 1 40.5 – 46.5
35 – 40 2 34.5 – 40.5
29 – 34 10 28.5 – 34.5
23 – 28 11 22.5 – 28.5
17 – 22 4 16.5 – 22.5
11 – 16 3 10.5 – 16.5
5 – 10 2 4.5 – 10.5
N = 40

Next, get the difference between the highest class boundary and the lowest class boundary.
Then we will have,

R = highest class boundary – lowest class boundary

= 58.5 – 4.5
= 54
Thus, the range of the data set is 54 points.
2. Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) is the average distance between each observation and the mean. It
gives us an idea about the variability in a dataset.

Steps in calculating the Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD).

Step 1: Calculate the mean.
Step 2: Calculate how far away each value/observation is from the mean using positive distances.
These are called absolute deviations.
Step 3: Add those deviations together.
Step 4: Divide the sum by the number of values/observation.

Formulas:

Ungrouped data:
where: MAD = mean absolute deviation
= raw score
= mean score
N = number of observations

Grouped data:
where MAD = mean absolute deviation
cf = frequency
= raw score
= mean score
N = number of observations

Examples:
a. A group of mountaineers went on hiking to Mt. Banahaw, Philippines to study the different
species of plants existing in that area. The ages of the mountaineers are 34, 35, 45, 46, 49, 32.
What is the MAD of their ages?

Solution:

Mean Age

3 –6
6 .17
4 .17
3
–5.17 5.17
5
4
4.83 4.83
5
4
5.83 5.83
6
4
8.83 8.83
9
3
–8.17 8.17
2
 Therefore, the mean absolute deviation is 7 yrs. old.

b. Given the frequency distribution table below, compute for R.

Scores of 40 Students in a 60-point Quiz

C.I. f
53 – 58 3
47 – 52 4
41 – 46 1
35 – 40 2
29 – 34 10
23 – 28 11
17 – 22 4
11 – 16 3
5 – 10 2
N = 40

Solution:
Scores of 40 Students in a 60-point Quiz
C.I. f X fX
53 – 58 3 55.5 166.5 25.2 75.6
47 – 52 4 49.5 198 19.2 76.8
41 – 46 1 43.5 43.5 13.2 13.2
35 – 40 2 37.5 75 7.2 14.4
29 – 34 10 31.5 315 1.2 12
23 – 28 11 25.5 280.5 4.8 52.8
17 – 22 4 19.5 78 10.8 43.2
11 – 16 3 13.5 40.5 16.8 50.4
5 – 10 2 7.5 15 22.8 45.6
N = 40 384
 Therefore, the mean absolute deviation of the scores of the students is approximately.

3. Variance is the average of the squared deviations of the set of observations from the mean. It
measures how far a data set is spread out

Ungrouped Data

Population Variance:

where = population variance

x = raw score
= population mean
N = number of observations

Sample Variance:

where = sample variance

x = raw score
= sample mean
n = number of observations

Grouped Data

Population Variance:

where = population variance

cf = frequency
x = class mark
= population mean
N = number of observations

Sample Variance:

where = sample variance

f = frequency
x = class mark

` = sample mean
n = number of observations

4. Standard Deviation is a measure of the dispersion of a set of data from its mean. It is determined by
calculating the positive root square root of variance. A large standard deviation indicates that the data
points are far from the mean (heterogeneous) and a small standard deviation indicates that they are
clustered closely around the mean (homogeneous).

Population Standard Deviation:

 Sample Standard Deviation:

Examples:
1. A group of mountaineers went on hiking to Mt. Pulag, Philippines to study the different species
of plants existing in that area. The ages of the mountaineers are 34, 35, 45, 46, 49, 32. What is
the (population) variance and standard deviation of their ages?
Solution:

X
–6.166
34 38.0689
…
–5.166
35 26.7289
…
45 4.833… 23.3289
46 5.833… 33.9889
49 8.833… 77.9689
–8.166
32 66.7489
…
N=
266.8334
6

Variance:

= 44.4722333… 44.47
Standard Deviation:

= 6.668583… 6.67

❖ The variance and standard deviation of the data set are 44.47 and 6.67, respectively. This

shows that the data is homogeneous.

2. Given the frequency distribution table below, compute for the sample variance and standard
deviation.
Scores of 40 Students in a 60-point Quiz
C.I. f
53 – 58 3
47 – 52 4
41 – 46 1
35 – 40 2
29 – 34 10
23 – 28 11
17 – 22 4
11 – 16 3
5 – 10 2
N = 40
Solution:

Scores of 40 Students in a 60-point Quiz

 C.I. f X X2 f(X2) fX

53 – 58 3 55.5 3080.25 9240.75 166.5

47 – 52 4 49.5 2450.25 9801 198
41 – 46 1 43.5 1892.25 1892.25 43.5
35 – 40 2 37.5 1406.25 2812.5 75
29 – 34 10 31.5 992.25 9922.5 315
23 – 28 11 25.5 650.25 7152.75 280.5
17 – 22 4 19.5 380.25 1521 78
11 – 16 3 13.5 182.25 546.75 40.5
5 – 10 2 7.5 56.25 112.5 15
N = 40 43,002 1212

Variance:

= 160.9846… 160.98

Standard Deviation:

< 22.73

❖ The variance and standard deviation of the data set are 160.98 and 12.69, respectively. This

shows that the data is homogeneous.

▪ Since it is tedious to be writing all the decimal digits just to get the exact value. You can always use the
STAT/SD function of your calculator.