Measures of

dispersion

Measures of dispersion

Using measures of central tendency is not

enough to describe completely a mass of data.
We need also to know about the dispersion,
spread, Variation or scatter of data.
For example Age of five persons
30, 34, 32, 36 and 28 years
the mean age is 32 years.
Age of other five persons
12, 30, 8, 62 and 48
same mean age of 32

Measures of dispersion:

1. Range:
2. Standard Deviation (S):

Range:
Range is difference between the biggest and
smallest observation.
From the above two examples range for
First group (30, 34, 32, 36 and 28 years )
= 36 28 = 8 years
Second group(12, 30, 8, 62 and 48)
= 62 8 = 54 years.

Range:
Example: From the following table calculate the range.
Weight (kg)

Frequency

5055606570<75

8
12
15
10
5

Total

50

Range = Upper limit of last interval Lower limit of first interval

= 75 50 = 25 Kg

Standard Deviation (S):

Generally the best
It is defined as the positive square root of the
variance.
It measures the deviation of observations from
the arithmetic mean.

Standard deviation
Find the standard deviation of the following

weight values 5, 7, 4, 8 and 6 Kg.

First step is obtaining the deviation of each

value from the arithmetic mean.

_

X = 5 + 7 + 4 + 8+6 = 30/5= 6 Kg
Deviation of values from the mean:
56= -1
76=+1
46= -2
86=+2
66= 0

 Second step is to square the deviation from

the mean.
(-1)2 + (+1) 2 + (-2) 2 + (+2) 2 + (0) 2
= 1+1+4+4= 10

 Third step: The squared deviations are

summed and divided by the number of
observations minus one (n-1) to get the
variance (S2)
Fourth step: The square root of variance (S2)
gives us the standard deviation (S).
( X X )2 10
S

2.5 1.58
n 1
4

Calculation of standard deviation for ungrouped data:

Another formula which makes the calculation

easier is the following:

N.B.: If n is equal to or more than 30 we

divide only by n instead of n-1.

Example: Find the standard deviation of the following weight values 5, 7,

4, 8 and 6 Kg.
If we use the other formula
Solution:

X2

5
7
4
8
6

25
49
16
64
36

X= 30

X2 = 190

All of the following are examples of qualitative

variable except:
a.
b.
c.
d.

Sex
place of birth
body weight
socioeconomic class

All of the following are examples of quantitative

variable except:
a. blood pressure
b. blood group
c. .haemoglobin percent
d. length of hospital stay

A researcher compared the height (cm) of 100 male

pupils with an equal number of female pupils of the
same age. He selected a suitable table to represent
the data, which is:
a. simple frequency table
b. 22 table
c. comparing table
d. two way classification table

He represented the data graphically

using:
a. histogram
b. pie chart
c. frequency polygon
d. bar chart

He investigated their blood for the presence of

anemia (anemic, not anemic). He used the
following table to represent the data.
a. 22 table
b. cr table
c. comparing table
d. two way classification table

A medical researcher classified 300 diabetic patients

according to their weight Kg and their fasting blood
glucose mg/dl. He used the following table:

a. 22 table
b. cr table
c. comparing table
d. two way classification table

Complete:
The line graph is specifically used when we are
dealing with observation that varies according
to .. . Example of this graph is
,.
Standard deviation is the commonly used
measure of. It measures the
deviation of observations from .
. and .. are examples of
continuous quantitative variables that could be
represented graphically by.
and .

In nine families surveyed, the numbers of

children per family were: 4, 6, 2, 2, 4, 3, 2, 1 and
7 respectively. Calculate the mean, mode and
median numbers of children per family.
Mean =
Median =
Mode =

 38. A fourth-year medical student has

completed five clinical rounds examinations.
He was graded in each round on a scale of 1 to
ten as follows: 2, 3, 6, 7 and 7.
For each statistical measure listed below, select
the numerical value that is most appropriate:
( ) Median
(A) 4
( ) Mode
(B) 5
( ) Mean
(C) 6
( ) Range
(D) 7