CHAPTER 4

4. Measures of Dispersion (Variation)

Introduction and objectives of measuring Variation

-The scatter or spread of items of a distribution is known as dispersion or

variation. In other words the degree to which numerical data tend to spread
about an average value is called dispersion or variation of the data.
-Measures of dispersions are statistical measures which provide ways of
measuring the extent in which data are dispersed or spread out.
Objectives of measuring Variation:

 To judge the reliability of measures of central tendency

 To control variability itself.
 To compare two or more groups of numbers in terms of their
variability.
 To make further statistical analysis.
Absolute and Relative Measures of Dispersion

The measures of dispersion which are expressed in terms of the original unit
of a series are termed as absolute measures. Such measures are not suitable
for comparing the variability of two distributions which are expressed in
different units of measurement and different average size. Relative measures
of dispersions are a ratio or percentage of a measure of absolute dispersion
to an appropriate measure of central tendency and are thus pure numbers
independent of the units of measurement. For comparing the variability of
two distributions (even if they are measured in the same unit), we compute
the relative measure of dispersion instead of absolute measures of
dispersion.

Types of Measures of Dispersion

Various measures of dispersions are in use. The most commonly used

measures of dispersions are:
1) Range and relative range
2) Quartile deviation and coefficient of Quartile deviation
3) Mean deviation and coefficient of Mean deviation
4) Standard deviation and coefficient of variation.
)

The Range (R)

The range is the largest score minus the smallest score. It is a quick and dirty
measure of variability, although when a test is given back to students they
very often wish to know the range of scores. Because the range is greatly
affected by extreme scores, it may give a distorted picture of the scores. The
following two distributions have the same range, 13, yet appear to differ
greatly in the amount of variability.

Distribution 1: 32 35 36 36 37 38 40 42 42 43 43 45
Distribution 2: 32 32 33 33 33 34 34 34 34 34 35 45

For this reason, among others, the range is not the most important measure
of variability.

R LS , L  l arg est observation

S  smallest observation

Range for grouped data:

If data are given in the shape of continuous frequency distribution, the range
is computed as:
R  UCLk  LCL1 , UCLk is upperclass lim it of the last class.
UCL1 is lower class lim it of the first class.

This is sometimes expressed as:

R  X k  X1 , X k is class mark of the last class.
X 1 is classmark of the first class.

Merits and Demerits of range

 Merits:
 It is rigidly defined.
 It is easy to calculate and simple to understand.
Demerits:
 It is not based on all observation.
 It is highly affected by extreme observations.
 It is affected by fluctuation in sampling.
 It is not liable to further algebraic treatment.
 It cannot be computed in the case of open end distribution.
 It is very sensitive to the size of the sample.
Relative Range (RR)
-it is also sometimes called coefficient of range and given by:
LS R
RR  
LS LS
Example:
1. Find the relative range of the above two distribution.(exercise!)
2. If the range and relative range of a series are 4 and 0.25 respectively. Then
what is the value of:
a) Smallest observation
b) Largest observation
Solutions :( 2)
R  4  L  S  4 _________________(1)
RR  0.25  L  S  16 _____________(2)
Solving (1) and (2) at the same time , one can obtain the following value
L  10 and S  6

The Quartile Deviation (Semi-inter quartile range), Q.D

The inter quartile range is the difference between the third and the first
quartiles of a set of items and semi-inter quartile range is half of the inter
quartile range.
Q3  Q1
Q.D 
2
Coefficient of Quartile Deviation (C.Q.D)

(Q3  Q1 2 2 * Q.D Q3  Q1
C. Q.D   
(Q3  Q1 ) 2 Q3  Q1 Q3  Q1

 It gives the average amount by which the two quartiles differ from the
median.

Example: Compute Q.D and its coefficient for the following distribution.

Values Frequency
140- 150 17
150- 160 29
160- 170 42
170- 180 72
180- 190 84
190- 200 107
200- 210 49
210- 220 34
220- 230 31
230- 240 16
240- 250 12

Solutions:
In the previous chapter we have obtained the values of all quartiles as:
Q1= 174.90, Q2= 190.23, Q3=203.83

Q3  Q1 203.83  174.90
 Q.D    14.47
2 2
2 * Q.D 2 *14.47
C.Q.D    0.076
Q3  Q1 203.83  174.90

Remark: Q.D or C.Q.D includes only the middle 50% of the observation.
 The Mean Deviation (M.D):

The mean deviation of a set of items is defined as the arithmetic mean of the
values of the absolute deviations from a given average. Depending up on the
type of averages used we have different mean deviations.
a) Mean Deviation about the mean
 Denoted by M.D( X ) and given by

n
 Xi  X
i 1
M .D ( X ) 
n
 For the case of frequency distribution it is given as:

k
 fi X i  X
i 1
M .D ( X ) 
n

Steps to calculate M.D ( X ):

1. Find the arithmetic mean, X
2. Find the deviations of each reading from X .
3. Find the arithmetic mean of the deviations, ignoring sign.

b) Mean Deviation about the median.

~
 Denoted by M.D( X ) and given by

n ~
~
 Xi  X
i 1
M .D ( X ) 
n
 For the case of frequency distribution it is given as:
 k ~
~
 fi X i  X
i 1
M .D ( X ) 
n
~
Steps to calculate M.D ( X ):
~
1. Find the median, X
~
2. Find the deviations of each reading from X .
3. Find the arithmetic mean of the deviations, ignoring sign.

c) Mean Deviation about the mode.

 Denoted by M.D( X̂ ) and given by

 X i  Xˆ
M .D ( Xˆ )  i1
n

 For the case of frequency distribution it is given as:

k
 f i X i  Xˆ
M . D ( Xˆ )  i 1
n

Steps to calculate M.D ( X̂ ):

1. Find the mode, X̂
2. Find the deviations of each reading from X̂ .
3. Find the arithmetic mean of the deviations, ignoring sign.

Examples:
1. The following are the number of visit made by ten mothers to the local
doctor’s surgery. 8, 6, 5, 5, 7, 4, 5, 9, 7, 4
Find mean deviation about mean, median and mode.
Solutions:
First calculate the three averages
~
X  6, X  5.5, Xˆ  5
 Then take the deviations of each observation from these averages.
Xi 4 4 5 5 5 6 7 7 8 9 total
X 6 2 2 1 1 1 0 1 1 2 3 14
i

X i  5.5 1.5 1.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.5 1.5 2.5 3.5 14
Xi  5 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 4 14

10
 X i  6) 14
i 1
 M .D ( X )    1 .4
10 10

10

~
 X i  5 .5 14
i 1
M .D ( X )    1 .4
10 10

10
 X i  5) 14
M . D ( Xˆ )  i 1
  1 .4
10 10

2. Find mean deviation about mean, median and mode for the following
distributions.(exercise)

Class Frequency
40-44 7
45-49 10
50-54 22
55-59 15
60-64 12
65-69 6
70-74 3

Remark: Mean deviation is always minimum about the median.

Coefficient of Mean Deviation (C.M.D)

M .D
C.M .D 
Average about which deviations are taken

M .D( X )
 C.M .D( X ) 
X
~
~ M .D( X )
C.M .D( X )  ~
X
ˆ M .D( Xˆ )
C.M .D( X ) 
Xˆ
Example: calculate the C.M.D about the mean, median and mode for the
data in example 1 above.

Solutions:

M .D
C.M .D 
Average about which deviations are taken

M .D( X ) 1.4
 C.M .D( X )    0.233
X 6
~
~ M .D( X ) 1.4
C.M .D( X )  ~   0.255
X 5.5
M .D( Xˆ ) 1.4
C.M .D( Xˆ )    0.28
Xˆ 5
Exercise: Identify the merits and demerits of Mean Deviation
)

The Variance
Population Variance
If we divide the variation by the number of values in the population, we
get something called the population variance. This variance is the "average
squared deviation from the mean".

1
Population Varince   2  2
 ( X i   ) , i  1,2,.....N
N
For the case of frequency distribution it is expressed as:

1
Population Varince   2  2
 f i ( X i   ) , i  1,2,.....k
N
Sample Variance

One would expect the sample variance to simply be the population variance
with the population mean replaced by the sample mean. However, one of the
major uses of statistics is to estimate the corresponding parameter. This
formula has the problem that the estimated value isn't the same as the
parameter. To counteract this, the sum of the squares of the deviations is
divided by one less than the sample size.

1
Sample Varince  S 2  2
 ( X i  X ) , i  1,2,....., n
n 1
For the case of frequency distribution it is expressed as:

1
Sample Varince  S 2  2
 f i ( X i  X ) , i  1,2,.....k
n 1
We usually use the following short cut formula.
n
2
 X i  nX 2
S 2  i 1 , for raw data.
n 1
 k
2 2
 f i X i  nX
S 2  i 1 , for frequency distribution.
n 1
Standard Deviation

There is a problem with variances. Recall that the deviations were squared.
That means that the units were also squared. To get the units back the same
as the original data values, the square root must be taken.

The following steps are used to calculate the sample variance:

1. Find the arithmetic mean.

2. Find the difference between each observation and the mean.
3. Square these differences.
4. Sum the squared differences.
5. Since the data is a sample, divide the number (from step 4 above) by the
number of observations minus one, i.e., n-1 (where n is equal to the number
of observations in the data set).

Population s tan dard deviation     2

Sample s tan dard deviation  s  S2
Examples: Find the variance and standard deviation of the following sample data
1. 5, 17, 12, 10.
2. The data is given in the form of frequency distribution.
 Solutions:
1. X  11

Class Frequency
40-44 7
45-49 10
50-54 22
55-59 15
60-64 12
65-69 6
70-74 3
Xi 5 10 12 17 Total
(Xi- X ) 2 36 1 1 36 74

n
 ( X i  X )2 74
 S 2  i 1   24.67.
n 1 3
 S  S 2  24.67  4.97.

2. X  55
Xi(C.M) 42 47 52 57 62 67 72 Total
fi(Xi- X ) 2 1183 640 198 60 588 864 867 4400

n
 fi ( X i  X ) 2 4400
 S 2  i 1   59.46.
n 1 74
 S  S 2  59.46  7.71.

Special properties of Standard deviations

 2 2
1.
(Xi  X )   ( X i  A) ,A X
n 1 n 1
2. For normal (symmetric distribution the following holds.

 Approximately 68.27% of the data values fall within one standard

deviation of the mean. i.e. with in ( X  S , X  S )
 Approximately 95.45% of the data values fall within two standard
deviations of the mean. i.e. with in ( X  2 S , X  2 S )
 Approximately 99.73% of the data values fall within three standard
deviations of the mean. i.e. with in ( X  3S , X  3S )

3. Chebyshev's Theorem
For any data set ,no matter what the pattern of variation, the proportion
of the values that fall with in k standard deviations of the mean or
1
( X  kS , X  kS ) will be at least 1  , where k is an number greater
k2
than 1. i.e. the proportion of items falling beyond k standard deviations of
1
the mean is at most
k2
Example: Suppose a distribution has mean 50 and standard deviation
6.What percent of the numbers are:
a) Between 38 and 62
b) Between 32 and 68
c) Less than 38 or more than 62.
d) Less than 32 or more than 68.

Solutions:

a) 38 and 62 are at equal distance from the mean,50 and this distance is 12
 ks  12
12 12
k  2
S 6
 1
 Applying the above theorem at least (1  ) *100%  75% of the numbers lie
k2
between 38 and 62.

b) Similarly done.
1
c) It is just the complement of a) i.e. at most *100%  25% of the
k2
numbers lie less than 32 or more than 62.
d) Similarly done.

Example 2:
The average score of a special test of knowledge of wood refinishing has
a mean of 53 and standard deviation of 6. Find the range of values in which
at least 75% the scores will lie. (Exercise)

4. If the standard deviation of X 1 , X 2 , ..... X n is S , then the standard

deviation of
a) X 1  k , X 2  k , ..... X n  k will also be S
b) kX 1 , kX 2 , .....kX n would be k S
c) a  kX 1 , a  kX 2 , .....a  kX n would be k S
Exercise: Verify each of the above relationship, considering k and a as
constants.

Examples:
1. The mean and standard deviation of n Tetracycline Capsules
X 1 , X 2 , ..... X n are known to be 12 gm and 3 gm respectively. New set
of capsules of another drug are obtained by the linear transformation Yi =
2Xi – 0.5 ( i = 1, 2, …, n ) then what will be the standard deviation of the
new set of capsules
2. The mean and the standard deviation of a set of numbers are respectively
500 and 10.
a. If 10 is added to each of the numbers in the set, then
what will be the variance and standard deviation of
the new set?
b. If each of the numbers in the set are multiplied by -5,
then what will be the variance and standard deviation
of the new set?
Lecture notes on Introduction to Statistics (Stat 173) Chapter 2 METHODS OF DATA PRESNTATION

Solutions:
1. Using c) above the new standard deviation = k S  2 * 3  6
2. a. They will remain the same.
b. New standard deviation=  k S  5 *10  50

Coefficient of Variation (C.V)

 Is defined as the ratio of standard deviation to the mean usually expressed

as percents.
S
C.V  *100
X
 The distribution having less C.V is said to be less variable or more
consistent.
Examples:
1. An analysis of the monthly wages paid (in Birr) to workers in two firms A and B
belonging to the same industry gives the following results

Value Firm A Firm B

Mean wage 52.5 47.5

Variance 100 121

In which firm A or B is there greater variability in individual wages?

Solutions:
Calculate coefficient of variation for both firms.
SA 10
C.VA  *100  *100  19.05%
XA 52.5
S 11
C.VB  B *100  *100  23.16%
XB 47.5
Since C.VA < C.VB, in firm B there is greater variability in individual wages.
2. A meteorologist interested in the consistency of temperatures in three cities
during a given week collected the following data. The temperatures for the five
days of the week in the three cities were

City 1 25 24 23 26 17
City2 22 21 24 22 20
 City3 32 27 35 24 28

Which city have the most consistent temperature, based on these data?
(Exercise)

Standard Scores (Z-scores)

 If X is a measurement from a distribution with mean X and

standard deviation S, then its value in standard units is

X 
Z , for population.

X X
Z , for sample
S
 Z gives the deviations from the mean in units of standard deviation
 Z gives the number of standard deviation a particular observation
lie above or below the mean.
 It is used to compare two observations coming from different
groups.
Examples:
1. Two sections were given introduction to statistics examinations. The
following information was given.

Value Section 1 Section 2

Mean 78 90
Stan.deviation 6 5

Student A from section 1 scored 90 and student B from section 2 scored

95.Relatively speaking who performed better?

Solutions:
Calculate the standard score of both students.
X A  X 1 90  78
ZA   2
S1 6
X B  X 2 95  90
ZB   1
S2 5
 Student A performed better relative to his section because the score of
student A is two standard deviation above the mean score of his section
while, the score of student B is only one standard deviation above the mean
score of his section.
2. Two groups of people were trained to perform a certain task and tested to
find out which group is faster to learn the task. For the two groups the
following information was given:

Value Group one Group two

Mean 10.4 min 11.9 min
Stan.dev. 1.2 min 1.3 min
Relatively speaking:
a) Which group is more consistent in its performance
b) Suppose a person A from group one take 9.2 minutes
while person B from Group two take 9.3 minutes,
who was faster in performing the task? Why?

Solutions:
a) Use coefficient of variation.
S1 1.2
C.V1  *100  *100  11.54%
X1 10.4
S 1.3
C.V2  2 *100  *100  10.92%
X2 11.9
Since C.V2 < C.V1, group 2 is more consistent.
b) Calculate the standard score of A and B

X A  X 1 9.2  10.4
ZA    1
S1 1.2
X B  X 2 9.3  11.9
ZB    2
S2 1.3
Child B is faster because the time taken by child B is two standard
deviation shorter than the average time taken by group 2 while, the time
 taken by child A is only one standard deviation shorter than the average time
taken by group 1.

Moments
- If X is a variable that assume the values X1, X2,…..,Xn then
1. The rth moment is defined as:
r r r
rX  X 2  ...  X n
X  1
n
n
r
 Xi
 i 1
n
- For the case of frequency distribution this is expressed as:

k
r
 fi X i
X r  i 1
n
- If r  1 ,it is the simple arithmetic mean, this is called the first moment.

2. The rth moment about the mean ( the rth central moment)

- Denoted by Mr and defined as:

n n
r r
(Xi  X ) (n  1) i
(Xi  X )
M r  i 1  1
n n n 1
- For the case of frequency distribution this is expressed as:

k
 fi ( X i  X ) r
M r  i 1
n
- If r  2 , it is population variance, this is called the second central moment.
If we assume n 1  n ,it is also the sample variance.
3. The rth moment about any number A is defined as:

'
- Denoted by M r and
n n
r r
 ( X i  A) (n  1) i
( X i  A)
'
M r  i 1  1
n n n 1
- For the case of frequency distribution this is expressed as:

k
r
 f i ( X i  A)
'
M r  i 1
n

Example:
1. Find the first two moments for the following set of numbers 2, 3, 7
2. Find the first three central moments of the numbers in problem 1
3. Find the third moment about the number 3 of the numbers in problem 1.
Solutions:
1. Use the rth moment formula.
n
r
 Xi
X r  i 1
n
23 7
 X1  4 X
3
2 2 2  32  7 2
X   20.67
3

2. Use the rth central moment formula.

))

n
r
(Xi  X )
M r  i 1
n
(2  4)  (3  4)  (7  4)
 M1  0
3
(2  4) 2  (3  4) 2  (7  4) 2
M2   4.67
3
(2  4)  (3  4) 3  (7  4) 3
3
M3  6
3
3. Use the rth moment about A.

n
r
 ( X i  A)
M r  i 1
n
' (2  3) 3  (3  3)3  (7  3)3
 M3   21
3
Skewness

- Skewness is the degree of asymmetry or departure from symmetry of a

distribution.
- A skewed frequency distribution is one that is not symmetrical.
- Skewness is concerned with the shape of the curve not size.
- If the frequency curve (smoothed frequency polygon) of a distribution has
a longer tail to the right of the central maximum than to the left, the
distribution is said to be skewed to the right or said to have positive
skewness. If it has a longer tail to the left of the central maximum than to
the right, it is said to be skewed to the left or said to have negative
skewness.
- For moderately skewed distribution, the following relation holds among
the three commonly used measures of central tendency.
Mean  Mode  3 * ( Mean  Median)

Measures of Skewness
- Denoted by  3
- There are various measures of skewness.
1. The Pearsonian coefficient of skewness
Mean  Mode X  Xˆ
3  
S tan dard deviation S
2. The Bowley’s coefficient of skewness ( coefficient of skewness
based on quartiles)
(Q3  Q2 )  (Q2  Q1 ) Q3  Q1  2Q2
3  
Q3  Q1 Q3  Q1
3. The moment coefficient of skewness

M3 M3 M3
3  32
 2 32
 3
, Where  is the population s tan dard deviation.
M2 ( ) 
The shape of the curve is determined by the value of 3
 If  3  0 then the distribution is positively skewed.
 If  3  0 then the distribution is symmetric.
 If  3  0 then the distribution is negatively skewed.

Remark:
o In a positively skewed distribution, smaller observations
are more frequent than larger observations. i.e. the
majority of the observations have a value below an
average.
o In a negatively skewed distribution, smaller observations
are less frequent than larger observations. i.e. the
majority of the observations have a value above an
average.

Examples:
1. Suppose the mean, the mode, and the standard deviation of a certain
distribution are 32, 30.5 and 10 respectively. What is the shape of
the curve representing the distribution?
Solutions:
Use the Pearsonian coefficient ofskewness
 Mean  Mode 32  30.5
3    0.15
S tan dard deviation 10
 3  0  The distribution is positively skewed .
2. In a frequency distribution, the coefficient of skewness based on the
quartiles is given to be 0.5. If the sum of the upper and lower quartile
is 28 and the median is 11, find the values of the upper and lower
quartiles.
Solutions:
~
Given:  3  0.5, X  Q2  11 Required: Q1 ,Q3
Q1  Q3  28...........................(*)

(Q3  Q2 )  (Q2  Q1 ) Q3  Q1  2Q2

3    0.5
Q3  Q1 Q3  Q1
Substituting the given values , one can obtain the following
Q3  Q1  12...................................(**)
Solving (*) and (**) at the same time we obtain the following values
Q1  8 and Q3  20

3. Some characteristics of annually family income distribution (in Birr)

in two regions is as follows:
Region Mean Median Standard Deviation
A 6250 5100 960
B 6980 5500 940
a) Calculate coefficient of skewness for each region
b) For which region is, the income distribution more skewed. Give
your interpretation for this Region
c) For which region is the income more consistent?

Solutions: (exercise)

4. For a moderately skewed frequency distribution, the mean is 10 and

the median is 8.5. If the coefficient of variation is 20%, find the
 Pearsonian coefficient of skewness and the probable mode of the
distribution. (exercise)

5. The sum of fifteen observations, whose mode is 8, was found to be

150 with coefficient of variation of 20%
(a) Calculate the pearsonian coefficient of skewness and give
appropriate conclusion.
(b) Are smaller values more or less frequent than bigger values for this
distribution?
(c) If a constant k was added on each observation, what will be the
new pearsonian coefficient of skewness? Show your steps. What
do you conclude from this?
Solutions: (exercise)

Kurtosis

Kurtosis is the degree of peakdness of a distribution, usally taken

relative to a normal distribution. A distribution having relatively high
peak is called leptokurtic. If a curve representing a distribution is flat
topped, it is called platykurtic. The normal distribution which is not very
high peaked or flat topped is called mesokurtic.
Measures of kurtosis
The moment coefficient of kurtosis:
 Denoted by  4 and given by
M4 M4
4  2
 4
M2 
Where : M 4 is the fourth moment about the mean.
M 2 is the sec ond moment about the mean.
 is the population s tan dard deviation.
The peakdness depends on the value of 4 .
 If  4  3 then the curve is leptokurtic.
 If  4  3 then the curve is mesokurtic.
 If  4  3 then the curve is platykurtic.
Examples:
1. If the first four central moments of a distribution are:
M 1  0, M 2  16, M 3  60, M 4  162
 a) Compute a measure of skewness
b) Compute a measure of kurtosis and give your
interpretation.

Solutions:
M3  60
3    0.94  0
a) M2
32
16 3 2
 The distribution is negatively skewed .

M 4 162
4  2
 2  0.6  3
b) M2 16
 The curve is platykurtic.

2. The median and the mode of a mesokurtic distribution are 32 and 34

respectively. The 4th moment about the mean is 243. Compute the
Pearsonian coefficient of skewness and identify the type of skewness.
Assume (n-1 = n).

3. If the standard deviation of a symmetric distribution is 10, what should be

the value of the fourth moment so that the distribution is mesokurtic?
Solutions (exercise).