Chapter 4:

Measures of Variability

4.1 Dispersion Measurement

 The measures of central tendency such as mean, median and mode do not
reveal the whole picture of the distribution of a data set.
 Two data sets with the same mean may have a completely different spreads.
 The variation among the values of observations for one data set may be much
larger or smaller than for the other data set.

4.1.1 Ungrouped Data

1. Range

RANGE = Largest value – Smallest value

Example 1:

Find the range of production for this data set,

Solution: (ans.: 217626)

 Disadvantages:
o Being influenced by outliers.
o Based on two values only. All other values in a data set are ignored.

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 2. Variance and Standard Deviation

 Standard deviation is the most used measure of dispersion.

 A Standard Deviation value tells how closely the values of a data set
clustered around the mean.
 Lower value of standard deviation indicates that the data set value are
spread over relatively smaller range around the mean.
 Larger value of data set indicates that the data set value are spread over
relatively larger around the mean (far from mean).
 Standard deviation is obtained the positive root of the variance:

Variance Standard Deviation

 x  2

x 2

Population
2  N   2
N
 x  2

Sample  x 2

n s s2
s 
2

n 1

Example 2:

Let x denote the total production (in unit) of company

Company Production
A 62
B 93
C 126
D 75
E 34

Find the variance and standard deviation,

Solution: (1182.50, 34.75)

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  The properties of variance and standard deviation:

a) The standard deviation is a measure of variation of all values from the

mean.

b) The value of the variance and the standard deviation are never negative.
Also, larger values of variance or standard deviation indicate greater
amounts of variation.

c) The value of s can increase dramatically with the inclusion of one or

more outliers.

d) The measurement units of variance are always the square of the

measurement units of the original data while the units of standard
deviation are the same as the units of the original data values.

4.1.2 Grouped Data

1. Range

Range = Upper bound of last class – Lower bound of first class

Class Frequency
41 – 50 1
51 – 60 3
61 – 70 7
71 – 80 13
81 – 90 10
91 - 100 6
Total 40

Upper bound of last class = 100.5

Lower bound of first class = 40.5
Range = 100.5 – 40.5 = 60

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2. Variance and Standard Deviation

Variance Standard Deviation

  fx 
2

Population  fx 2  N   2
 
2

N
  fx 
2

Sample  fx 2

n s s2
s 
2

n 1

Example 3:

Find the variance and standard deviation for the following data:

No. of order f
10 – 12 4
13 – 15 12
16 – 18 20
19 – 21 14
Total n = 50
Solution: (7.5820, 2.75)

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4.2 Relative Dispersion Measurement

 To compare two or more distribution that has different unit based on their
dispersion Or
 To compare two or more distribution that has same unit but big different in
their value of mean.
 Also called modified coefficient or coefficient of variation, CV.

s
CV     100%  ( sample)
 x
 
CV     100%  ( population )
x

Example 4:

Given mean and standard deviation of monthly salary for two groups of worker who
are working in ABC company- Group 1: 700 & 20 and Group 2 :1070 & 20. Find the
CV for every group and determine which group is more dispersed.

Solution: (2.86%, 1.87%)

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4.3 Measure of Position

 Determines the position of a single value in relation to other values in a

sample or a population data set.

1. Quartiles

 Quartiles are three summary measures that divide ranked data set into four
equal parts.

 The 1st quartiles – denoted as Q1

n 1
Depth of Q1 =
4

 The 2nd quartiles – median of a data set or Q2

 The 3rd quartiles – denoted as Q3

3( n  1)
Depth of Q3 =
4

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Example 5:

(a) Table below lists the total revenue for the 11 top tourism company in Malaysia.
Determine the Q1 and Q3.

109.7 79.9 121.2 76.4 80.2 82.1 79.4 89.3 98.0 103.5 86.8

Solution: (79.9, 103.5)

(b) Table below lists the total revenue for the 12 top tourism company in Malaysia
Determine the Q1 and Q3.

109.7 79.9 74.1 121.2 76.4 80.2 82.1 79.4 89.3 98.0
103.5 86.8

Solution: (79.525, 102.125)

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2. Interquartile Range

 The difference between the third quartile and the first quartile for a data set.

IQR = Q3 – Q1

Example 6:

By referring to example 6, calculate the IQR.

Solution: (23.6, 22.6)

Grouped Data

1. Quartiles

 From Median, we can get Q1 and Q3 equation as follows:

n   3n 
4-F   4 -F 
Q1  LQ1 +  i ; Q3  LQ3 +  i
 f Q1   fQ3 
   
Example 7:

Refer to example 3, find Q1, Q3 calculate the IQR.

Solution: (13.7143, 34.3889, 20.6746)

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4.4 Measure of Skewness

 To determine the skewness of data (symmetry, left skewed, right skewed)

 Also called Skewness Coefficient or Pearson Coefficient of Skewness

Mean  Mode
Sk 
s
or
3( Mean  Median)
Sk 
s

 If Sk +ve  right skewed

 If Sk -ve  left skewed
 If Sk = 0  symmetry
 If Sk takes a value in between (-0.9999, -0.0001) or (0.0001, 0.9999) 
approximately symmetry.

Example 33

The duration of cancer patient warded in Hospital Seberang Jaya recorded in a

frequency distribution. From the record, the mean is 28 days, median is 25 days and
mode is 23 days. Given the standard deviation is 4.2 days.
(a) Find the skewness coefficient.
(b) What is the type of distribution?

Solution: (1.1905 or 2.1429)