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Mean Absolute Deviation

The mean absolute deviation is a measure of variability that calculates the average distance between each data point in a dataset and the mean. It is calculated by first finding the mean, then taking the absolute value of the difference between each data point and the mean, summing those absolute differences, and dividing by the number of data points. For a dataset of the number of likes on 666 cat pictures, the mean absolute deviation was approximately 2.67 likes, meaning on average each data point differed from the mean by about 2-3 likes.

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181 views

Mean Absolute Deviation

The mean absolute deviation is a measure of variability that calculates the average distance between each data point in a dataset and the mean. It is calculated by first finding the mean, then taking the absolute value of the difference between each data point and the mean, summing those absolute differences, and dividing by the number of data points. For a dataset of the number of likes on 666 cat pictures, the mean absolute deviation was approximately 2.67 likes, meaning on average each data point differed from the mean by about 2-3 likes.

Uploaded by

Adri versouisse
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mean absolute deviation

The mean absolute deviation of a dataset is the average distance between


each data point and the mean. It gives us an idea about the variability in a
dataset.

Here's how to calculate the mean absolute deviation.

Step 1: Calculate the mean.

Step 2: Calculate how far away each data point is from the mean using
positive distances. These are called absolute deviations.

Step 3: Add those deviations together.

Step 4: Divide the sum by the number of data points.

Following these steps in the example below is probably the best way to learn
about mean absolute deviation, but here is a more formal way to write the
steps in a formula:
\text{MAD}=\dfrac{\sum{\lvert x_i-\bar{x} \rvert}}
{n}MAD=n∑∣xi−xˉ∣start text, M, A, D, end text, equals, start fraction,
sum, open vertical bar, x, start subscript, i, end subscript, minus, x, with, \bar,
on top, close vertical bar, divided by, n, end fraction

Example
Erica enjoys posting pictures of her cat online. Here's how many "likes" the
past 666 pictures each received:

101010, 151515, 151515, 171717, 181818, 212121

Find the mean absolute deviation.


Step 1: Calculate the mean.

The sum of the data is 969696 total "likes" and there are 666 pictures.


\text{mean}=\dfrac{96}{6}=16mean=696=16start text, m, e, a, n,
end text, equals, start fraction, 96, divided by, 6, end fraction, equals,
16

The mean is 161616.

Step 2: Calculate the distance between each data point and the mean.

Data
point Distance from mean
\lvert 10-16 \rvert =6∣10−16∣=6open vertical bar, 10,
101010 minus, 16, close vertical bar, equals, 6
\lvert 15-16 \rvert =1∣15−16∣=1open vertical bar, 15,
151515 minus, 16, close vertical bar, equals, 1
\lvert 15-16 \rvert =1∣15−16∣=1open vertical bar, 15,
151515 minus, 16, close vertical bar, equals, 1
\lvert 17-16 \rvert =1∣17−16∣=1open vertical bar, 17,
171717 minus, 16, close vertical bar, equals, 1
\lvert 18-16 \rvert =2∣18−16∣=2open vertical bar, 18,
181818 minus, 16, close vertical bar, equals, 2
\lvert 21-16 \rvert =5∣21−16∣=5open vertical bar, 21,
212121 minus, 16, close vertical bar, equals, 5
Step 3: Add the distances together.
6+1+1+1+2+5=166+1+1+1+2+5=166, plus, 1, plus, 1, plus, 1,
plus, 2, plus, 5, equals, 16
Step 4: Divide the sum by the number of data points.

\text{MAD}=\dfrac{16}{6}\approx2.67MAD=616≈2.67start text, M, A, D,
end text, equals, start fraction, 16, divided by, 6, end fraction, approximately
equals, 2, point, 67 likes

On average, each picture was about 333 likes away from the mean.

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