Measures of Dispersion

Dispersion
Also called Variability, Scatter or Spread it the extent to which a distribution is stretched or
squeezed.
Dispersion in a statistic is a way of describing how spread out a set of data.
When data set has a large value, the value in the set are widely scattered. For example :
0, 1, 20, 30, 100
When data set has small value, the value in the set are tightly scattered. For
example : 0, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4
Coefficient of Dispersion
A "catch all term for a variety of formulas, including the distance between quartile as a measure.
As a measure of Dispersion around median you can use the fomula :

Rm
=

Median Ratio

Ri = Observed Ratio

N = Number in the sample

Quartile Coefficient of Dispersion

Is a measure of the spread data set. The formula :

Q1
= is
the

first quartile

Q3 = is the 3rd quartile

Quartile : Numbers that split the data into the four Quarters (First, Second, Third and Fourth)

Standard Deviation

Probably the most common measure. it tells you how spread out numbers are from the mean.

Mean

It tells how tightly your data is clusttered around the mean.

If you have Large Standard Deviation your data is further away from the mean and.

If your data has Small Standard Deviation your data is tightly clusttered around the mean.

For example:

The graph on the left might represent an abnormally high numbers of students getting scores close to
the average. While the graph on the right represents more students getting scores away from the
average.
The Formula of Standard Deviation :

Index of Dispersion

A measure of dispersion commonly used with nominal variables and partially as ordered nominal
variables.

It is usually defined as the ratio of the mean.

Formula :
K = no. Of categories in the data set.

N = no. Of items in the set.

f = no. Of frequencies or rarings.

= sum of squared frequencies or ratings.

if D = 0 all ratings fall into the same category.

if D = 1 all rarings are equallt divided between "K" categories.

Interquartile Range(IQR)

s a measure of where the "middle fifty" is in the data set.

An interquartile Range is a mesure of where the bulk of the values lie.

Formula :
Range

Is the difference between the smallest and the largest number in the set of data.

The largest number Minus the smallest number.

Interdecile Range

The difference between the first decile (10%) percentile and the last decile (90%) percentile.

The IDR similar to.

The range which measures from the smallest number to the largest number.

Deciles similar to Quartiles but quartiles sort data into 4 quarters while deciles data into ten equal parts.
The 10th 20th 30th ...... 100th percentiles

A Decile rank assigns a number to Decile.

Mean Difference or Difference in means

Measure the absolute difference between the mean value. In two different groups it gives you an idea
how much difference there in between the averages of the experimental group and control groups.

Example:

You finding the absoulute difference between two items .

In mathba difference is a substraction.

The difference between 10 and 2 is 8

( 10-2=8)

Median Absolute Deviation (MAD)

The median of the absoulte deviations from a data set's median. The MAD defined as :

MAD = Median (Yi - median Yi )

Example :

Find the MAD of the ff. Set of numbers

3,8,8,8,8,9,9,9,9

Step 1:Find the median.

3,8,8,8,8,9,9,9,9 the median is 8

Step 2: Substract the median from each x-value using the formula : Yi - median

3-8 = 5

8-8 = 0

8-8 = 0

8-8 = 0

8-8 = 0

9-8 = 1

9-8 = 1

9-8 = 1
9-8 = 1

The number is ( 0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1.5)

Step 3: Find the median of absolute differences

( 0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,5)

Solution :The median of the differences is 1 .