MEASURES OF
VARIATION
INTRODUCTION
Events of nature may vary from time to time. People
keep on changing their location, motion, physical
appearance, skin reaction to different chemicals,
height, weight, hair color, eye color, ideas, and even
values in life. Usually, the heights of a group of people
with the same race tend to converge to a certain
common value.
INTRODUCTION
For example, if the mean height of Filipino males is
approximately 5 feet and 6 inches, then this means that most
Filipino male adults have heights that are clustering about this
value. The extent of the clustering of the heights of the Filipino
males about a central value is known as variation. The measures
of variation will enable you to know how varied the observations
are, whether there are extreme values in the distribution, or
whether the values in the distribution, or whether the values are
very close to each other.
INTRODUCTION
If the measure variation is zero, it means that there
is no variation at all and that the observations are all
alike, or homogeneous. Otherwise, they are
heterogeneous. The common measures of variation
are the range, mean absolute deviation, variance,
standard deviation, coefficient of variation, quartile
deviation, and the percentile range.
RANGE
The range is the simplest form of measuring the
variation of a distribution. To get the range, subtract the
lowest score or observation from the highest score.
R = Highest observation – Lowest observation
EXAMPLE 1
A group of scientists went on a expedition
to the mountain range in Sierra Madre,
Philippines to study the different species of
plants existing in that area. The ages of the
scientists are 34, 35, 45, 56, 32, 25, and 40.
What is the range of their ages?
EXAMPLE 1
• Solution:
• Highest Age = 56
• Lowest Age = 25
• R = Highest – Lowest
• = 56 – 25
• = 31
• Therefore, the range of their ages is 31.
EXAMPLE 1
• If the size of the population or sample is large,
the range is not an excellent measure of
variation because it will only consider the
highest and the lowest values and will not tell
anything about the values between them. If one
is interested in the position of each observation
relative to the mean of the set of data, other
measures of variation may be necessary. One
such measure is the mean absolute deviation.
MEAN ABSOLUTE DEVIATION
To find the mean absolute deviation, subtract the mean
score from each raw score, then, using the absolute
values of the differences, get the sum of the results.
The sum is called the sum of the deviations from the
mean. Next, divide the sum by N, the total number of
cases.
MEAN ABSOLUTE DEVIATION
(for ungrouped data)
Where MAD= mean absolute deviation
= raw score
= mean score
= number of observations
(for grouped data)
Where MAD = mean absolute deviation
= frequency
= class mark
= mean score
= number of observations
EXAMPLE 2
Take the MAD of the ages of the scientists
in example 1.
Solution:
The ages are 34, 35, 45, 56, 32, 25, and 40.
Mean Age:
EXAMPLE 2
Therefore, the mean absolute deviation is 7.59.
VARIANCE
Variance is another measure of variation which can be
used instead of the range. The variance considers the
deviation of each observation from the mean. To obtain
the variance of a distribution, first, square the deviation
from then mean of each raw score and add them
together. Then, divide the resulting sum by N or the
total of cases.
VARIANCE
EXAMPLE 3
Find the population and sample
variances of the following
distribution:
34, 35, 45, 56, 32, 25, and 40
EXAMPLE 3
EXAMPLE 4
Compute for the population and sample
variances for the data in table 6.1.
EXAMPLE 4
STANDARD DEVIATION
The standard deviation, σ for a population or for a sample, is the
square root of the value of the variance. In symbols,
Unless specified, the sample standard deviation will be used in
all the examples and exercises throughout the book.
EXAMPLE 5
EXAMPLE 6
COEFFICIENT OF VARIATION
When it is necessary to compare the variability of two or more
groups, the task is easy if the means are the same. For example,
you can easily compare which group is more varied in height
between the following groups:
Group 1: mean = 156 cm, standard deviation = 6
Group 2: mean = 156 cm, standard deviation = 10
COEFFICIENT OF VARIATION
• Clearly, one can say that Group 2 is more varied because it has
higher standard deviation. The task becomes more difficult if
the means are not equal and the units are different, such as
when comparing the weights of two groups belonging
different age brackets or different genders. To compare the
variability of the weights of 9 girls, having a mean weight of
100 pounds and a standard deviation of 5 with that the
weights of 12 boys having a mean weight of 160 pounds and a
standard deviation of 8, a statistic call the coefficient of
variation could help you.
COEFFICIENT OF VARIATION
• The formula is given by:
Where s = standard deviation
= mean
• Since s and µhave the same units, their units will cancel out
and so CV has no unit.
EXAMPLE 7
EXAMPLE 7
Comparing the relative variations in height of the male and female
students, it can be seen that the heights of the male students have
a higher coefficient of variation than those of the female students.
Thus, the male student’s heights are more varied.
QUARTILE DEVIATION
The quartile deviation is another way of determining the
spread of a distribution in terms of quartiles. The quartile
deviation formula is shown below:
Where QD = quartile deviation
Q₃ = 3rd quartile
Q₁ = 1st quartile
EXAMPLE 8
Find the QDof the following scores:
23 25 30 35 39 40 44
47 51 60
EXAMPLE 8
Solution:
• Hence, the QD is 11.
EXAMPLE 9
EXAMPLE 9
Solution:
Hence, the quartile deviation is 4.67.
PERCENTILE RANGE
The percentile range, PR, is different between
the 90th percentile (P90) and the 10th
percentile (P10). In symbols,
EXAMPLE 10
EXAMPLE 10
Solution:
Hence, the percentile range of the scores is 64.
REFERENCE:
BASIC STATISTICS
ELIZABETH B. PARREÑO & RONEL O. JIMENEZ
THANK YOU!
