There are two main types of measures of
dispersion:
1. Absolute Measure of Dispersion
2. Relative Measure of Dispersion
Absolute Measure of Dispersion
Theabsolutemeasureofdispersion
measuresthevariationpresentamongthe
observationsintheunitofthevariableor
squareoftheunitofthevariable.
4
The commonly used measures of absolute
dispersion are:
1. Range
2. Quartile Deviation
3. Mean (Average) Deviation
4. Variance and Standard Deviation
6
Their corresponding measures of relative
dispersion are:
1. Coefficient of Range
2. Coefficient of Quartile Deviation
3. Coefficient of Mean (Average)
Deviation
4. Coefficient of Variation (CV)
7
Example:Thefollowingdatasetshowsthe
weeklyTVviewingtimes,inhours.
Calculaterangeandrangecoefficientof
variation.
25,41,27,32,43,66,35,31,15,5,
34,26,32,38,16,30,38,30,20,21.
859.0
566
5-66
Range ofefficient -Co
5.35
2
Range Mid
5.30
2
566
22
Range
Range Semi
61hours566XXRange
1
1
1n
XX
hours
XX
n
n
9
If X1, X2, …, Xn are n observations of a
variable X, with Q1and Q3as their first
and third quartiles respectively, then
their Quartile Deviation (QD) is as:2
QQ
MIQR
2
QQ
2
IQR
QD SIQR
QQ IQR
13
13
13
10
If X1, X2, …, Xnare n observations of a
variable X, with m as their average
(mean, median or mode), then their
mean deviation, denoted by MD, is
defined as:n
mX
MD
12
Example:
Calculate MD and coefficient of MD.h 30.25
20
605
n
X
X
289.0
25.30
75.8
UsedAverage
M.D.
MD oft Coefficien
h 8.75
20
175mX
MD
n
14
15
TheVarianceisdefinedasthemeanofthe
squareddeviationsfrommean.The
populationvarianceisdenotedbyσ2where
assamplevarianceisdenotedbyS2and
definedas
Forungroupeddata sampleFor
n
)x - (x
= S
population For
N
) - (x
=
2
2
2
2
16
Forgroupeddata sampleFor
n
)x-(x f
= S
population For
N
)-(x f
=
2
2
2
2
17
Standard deviation:
Thepositivesquarerootofthevarianceiscalled
StandardDeviation.Itisdenotedbyσ(Sforsample)
22
n
x
n
x
S 18
Itisverymuchmorestraight-forward
tousetheshortcutformulagiven
below:
Theformulaethatwehavejustdiscussedare
validincaseofrawdata.
Incaseofgroupeddatai.e.afrequency
distribution,eachsquareddeviationroundthemean
mustbemultipliedbytheappropriatefrequency
figurei.e.
n
xxf
S
2
Andtheshortcutformulaincaseofa
frequencydistributionis:
22
n
fx
n
fx
S
whichisagainpreferredfromthecomputational
standpoint.
Forexample,thestandarddeviationlifeofa
batchofelectriclightbulbswouldbecalculatedas
follows:Life (in
Hundreds
of Hours)
No. of
Bulbs
f
Mid-
point
x
fx fx
2
0 – 5 4 2.5 10.0 25.0
5 – 10 9 7.5 67.5506.25
10 – 20 38 15.0570.08550.0
20 – 40 33 30.0990.029700.0
40 and over16 50.0800.040000.0
100 2437.578781.25
EXAMPLE
Therefore,
standard deviation:
2
100
5.2437
100
25.78781
S
= 13.9 hundred hours
= 1390 hours
22
n
fx
n
fx
S
100100
..
X
s
Mean
DS
CV 23
Co-efficient of Variation.
The standard deviation is an absolute measure
of dispersion its relative measure of dispersion
is called co-efficient of variation (CV) and is
defined by :
Measures relative variation
Always in percentage (%)
Shows variation relative to mean
Is used to compare two or more sets of data
measured in different units 100%
x
s
CV
Population Sample100%
μ
σ
CV
25
Example:FindVariance,S.DandCo-efficientofVariation.
X 23681130
(X-6)
2
169042554% 54.76 = 100
6
3.286
= 100
x
S
= C.V
3.286 = 10. =
n
)x - (x
= S
10.8 =
5
54
=
n
)x - (x
= S
2
2
2
8
Stock A:
Average price last year = $50
Standard deviation = $5
Stock B:
Average price last year = $100
Standard deviation = $5
Both stocks have
the same standard
deviation, but
stock B is less
variate relative to
its price10%100%
$50
$5
100%
x
s
CV
A
5%100%
$100
$5
100%
x
s
CV
B