Measures of variability

Understanding spread and dispersion in data

What is variability?

• In research, it refers to the

extent to which data points in
a dataset differ from each
other. It reflects the
dispersion, spread, or diversity
of values within the set of
observations.
• Variability measures how much
individual data point deviate
from the central tendency.
Importance of understanding variability in
data analysis

Assessing data quality- variability helps in assessing

the quality and reliability of data.
Making informed decision- by understanding
variability, analysts can make more informed
decision and prediction based on available data.
Identifying patterns and trends- variability allows
analysts to identify patterns and trends within the
data.
Range

• The Range is the simplest

measure of variability, and
one you have probably
encountered many times in
your life. The Range is
simply the highest value in
the data set minus the
lowest value in the data
set.
Range

• For example, what is the Range of the

following set of data? 10, 2, 5, 6, 7, 3,
4
• The highest value is 10, and the lowest
value is 2. Because 10 minus 2 = 8, the
Range for this data set is 8.
Variance

• Variability can also be defined in

terms of how close the values are
to the central tendency. We can
use the mean as the measure of
central tendency.
• The variance is defined as the
average squared difference of
each value from the mean.
Standard deviation

• The Standard Deviation is

an especially useful
measure of variability
when the distribution is
normal ("bell shaped") or
approximately normal
because the Standard
Deviation affects the
shape of the "bell curve."
This video shows how to calculate the variance and
standard deviation
Range Variance Standard Deviation