Chapter : 4 MEASURES OF DISPERSION

We have seen how to get an average for a given distribution. The average represents a given distribution
but when we want to study the given distribution, knowing only the average value is not enough. For
instance, though it is useful to have an average of wages of workers in a factory, this value may not be
sufficient to indicate the wage conditions in the factory. We should also know the differences in
individual wages. Average does not give the idea about the spread or scatter of the data.
The same average may be found in two distributions yet they may differ widely in the scatter of their
values. In the following examples we have three series. The arithmetic mean and median are the same
for all the three.
A
60
60
60
60
60

B
50
55
60
65
70

C
0
30
60
90
120

Here se can see that though the averages are the same, the three series are widely different from each
other. If we consider only the average, conclusion will be misleading as the same number will represent
the three series.
The first series A has all equal observations. There is no variability. The observations in the series B
differ by 5, while the difference between two consecutive observations in series C is 30. It is clear that
the variability or scatter in series C is more than that in series B. In order to estimate to what extent the
data vary from the average and to measure the spread or scatter of the data we compute measures of
dispersion so that by referring to a single number we can find whether a distribution is compact or
spread out.
Dispersion is an important characteristic and must be measured for the information it gives about the
data. Two students may have the same average of marks. But one may be having marks near the average
in all the subjects while the other may be having low marks in some subjects and very high marks in
others. A manufacturer wants to control the quality of his product. He is interested in providing articles
with uniform quality and therefore wants to prevent variability. For him uniformly high quality is better
than high average. A manufacturer who produces electric bulbs will be happier with an average life of
1600 hours for his bulbs with uniform quality than an average life of 1700 hours with some bulbs lasting
for less than 1000 hours and some for more than 2000 hours.
For measuring dispersion we have various measures and each of them has different characteristics. As in
the case of averages, measures of dispersion also should have some qualities so that they give proper
idea about the scatter of the data. The following are the characteristics of a good measure of dispersion.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

It should be rigidly defined.

It should be based on all the observations.
It should be easy to calculate and understand.
It should be capable of further algebraic treatment.
It should not be affected much by sampling fluctuations.
Measures of Dispersion
Absolute Measures
1. Range

Relative Measures
1. Coefficient of Range

2. Quartile Deviation
3. Mean Deviation
4. Standard Deviation

2. Coefficient of Quartile Deviation

3. Coefficient of Mean Deviation
4. Coefficient of Variation

Range
An elementary measure of dispersion is range. It is the easiest of all measures of dispersion. It is defined
as the difference between the highest and the lowest values taken by the variable.
i.e. Range = Maximum value Minimum value
The corresponding relative measure is given by

Coefficient of Range
Example:

Maximum Value Minimum Value

.
Maximum Value + Minimum Value

Calculate the range for the following data giving the daily sales of a shop for a week.

Sales in Rs.: 160, 130, 125, 127, 143, 150, 155

Here the lowest value is Rs.125 and the highest value is Rs.160.

Range = 160 125 = 35.

Coefficient of Range

160 125 35

0.12
160 125 285

Range indicates nothing concerning the usual spread of the items. Therefore it is most useful when it is
known that the extreme items are not exceptional in nature. Stock prices and interest rates are often
stated in terms of their range. Range is used in statistical quality control to study the variation in quality
of manufactured units. Saving in computation time is an important factor in favour of range. However
range is not suitable for precise studies. It is only a rough measure of dispersion.
QUARTILE DEVIATION
Range is affected by extreme values. To avoid this we consider the range of the middle 50 per cent of the
observations. i.e., Q3 Q1. This is called inter quartile range. Quartile deviation is the mid point of the
range between the two quartiles.
Quartile deviation is define as Q.D

Q3 Q1
where Q1 and Q3 are the first and the third quartiles
2

respectively.

Coefficient of Quartile Deviation

Q3 Q1
Q3 Q1

PROBLEMS:
1.

Calculate the quartile deviation for the following data giving the age distribution of 1500 women.
Also find the coefficient of Q.D.
Age in years:
No. of women:

16-20
200

20-24
250

24-28
400

28-32
300

32-36
250

36-40
100

[ Answer: 4.44 years and 0.16 ]

2.

Calculate the quartile deviation for the following data.

Sales (00 Rs.)
No. of Shops:

100-110
4

110-120
7

120-130
20

130-140
9

140-150
6

150-160
4

[ Answer: 8.24 ]
3.

Calculate quartile deviation for the following distribution of ages of 800 persons. Also find the
coefficient of quartile deviation.
Age in years:
No. of persons:

20-25
50

25-30
70

30-35
100

35-40
180

40-45
150

45-50
120

50-55
70

55-60
60

[ Answer: 6.54 and 0.1613 ]

4.

Find the quartile deviation and the coefficient of Q.D.

C.I.
Freq.:

1500-1700
70

1700-1900
100

1900-2100
120

2100-2300
150

2300-2500
100

2500-2700
60

[ Answer: 230 and 0.11 ]

5.

Find the quartile deviation and the coefficient of Q.D.

Age (less than):
No. of persons:

10
15

20
30

30
53

40
75

50
100

60
110

70
115

80
125

40-50
33

50-60
25

60-70
12

70-80
9

[ Answer: 13.4783 and 0.3962 ]

6.

Find the quartile deviation and the coefficient of Q.D.

Daily wages in Rs.:
No. of persons:

0-10
10

10-20
17

20-30
26

30-40
30

[ Answer: 13.5039 and 0.3489 ]

7.

Find the quartile deviation and the coefficient of Q.D.

Marks:
Frequency:

5-10
6

10-15
8

15-20
17

20-25
21

25-30
15

30-35
11

35-40
2

[ Answer: 5.451 and 0.2454 ]

8.

Find the following data calculate the three quartiles and the quartile deviation and its coefficient.
Age in years:(Less than)
10
20
30
No. of persons:
14
36
64
[ Answer: 13.325 and 0.3864 ]

40
99

50
123

60
139

70
149

80
157

MEAN DEVIATION
The previous two measures of dispersion viz., Range and Quartile deviation do not take into account, the
deviations from the central value. The mean deviation considers these differences in absolute values and
averages these differences. Mean deviation takes into account all the observations and therefore is
superior to these two measures. Here deviations from mean are calculated considering their absolute
values, and are averaged. Although any average can be used theoretically, median is the best to use
because mean deviation from the median is less than that from any other value.
Mean Deviation is calculated as follows:

Raw Data

Frequency Distribution

x x
M .D
n

M .D x

M .D Median
M .D Mode

f x x
f
f x Median

f
f x Mode

f
i

xi Median

M .D Median

n
xi Mode

M .D Mode

M .D M

Coefficient of Mean Deviation =

where M is mean, median or mode.

Problems:
1.

Calculate mean deviation from median and the coefficient of M.D for the following distribution of
ages of 500 persons.
Age in years:
No. of persons:

20 25
70

25 30
80

30 35
180

35 40
100

40 45
50

45 50
20

[ Answer: 4.8896 and 0.1492 ]

2.

Find the mean deviation from mode and the corresponding coefficient of mean deviation for the
following data.
Income in Rs.:
No. of persons:

800-1000
16

1000-1200
34

1200-1400
60

1400-1600
37

1600-1800
13

[ Answer: 163.545 and 0.1252 ]

3.

Find the mean deviation from the mean for the following data.
Age in years:
No. of students:

11
7

12
19

13
25

14
23

15
15

16
11

[ Answer: 1.2 years ]

4.

Find the mean deviation from median from the following data.
xi:
fi:

5
15

6
20

7
30

8
25

9
12

10
10

[ Answer: 1.1518 ]
5.

Find the mean, mean deviation and the coefficient of mean deviation from the following data.
Age in years:
No. of persons:

20-22
70

22-24
90

24-26
110

26-28
140

28-30
130

30-32
80

32-34
80

[ Answer: 27.09, 2.9582 and 0.1093 ]

6.

Find the mean deviation from median for the following data.
Class Interval:
Frequency:

10-30
11

30-50
18

50-70
25

70-90
30

90-110
14

110-130
8

130-150
4

[ Answer: Median = 70.67, M.D. = 24.897, Coefficient = 0.3523 ]

7.

Calculate Mean Deviation from mean and its corresponding relative measure:
Class Interval:
Frequency:

05
7

5 10
14

10 15
23

15 20
31

20 25
28

25 30
17

30 35
10

[ Mean = 18.26, M.D. = 6.4262, Coefficient = 0.3517 ]

8.

Calculate median, mean deviation from median and the coefficient of mean deviation for the
following data.
Expenses in Rs.:
No. of Employees:

1000-1300
20

1300-1600
25

1600-1900
35

1900-2200
15

2200-2500
5

[ Answer: 1642.86, 280.71 and 0.1709 ]

9.

Find the mode and mean deviation from mode from the following data.
corresponding coefficient of M.D.
Class Interval:
Frequency:

0-10
4

10-20
7

20-30
12

30-40
18

40-50
8

Also find the

50-60
6

60-70
2

[ Answer: 11.4693 and 0.3398 ]

STANDARD DEVIATION
It is the most important and widely used of all the measures of dispersion. In mean deviation algebraic
signs are ignored. In standard deviation, the deviations are squared to get positive values. Here the
deviations from arithmetic mean are squared, they are averaged and the squareroot of the resulting
quantity is taken. Therefore this is also known as root-mean square deviation.
If x1 , x2 , x3 ,....., xn are n observations then their standard deviation denoted by is given

by

xi2 x 2

or

x x

In the case of a frequency distribution the standard deviation is calculated as follows:

fx
f

2
i i
i

f x
fi

i i

The corresponding relative measure known as the coefficient of variation is calculated as

C.V .

100
x

Problems:
1.

Find the standard deviation for the following sets of values:

i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

15, 20, 17, 8, 9, 12, 18, 10

652, 672, 670, 639, 642, 670
85, 35, 43, 75, 42, 41
52, 57, 49, 48, 35, 37
[ Answer: i. 4.2112 ii. 13.7568 iii. 19.1289 iv. 7.867 ]

2.

3.

From the following distribution, find the standard deviation.

i.

xi:
fi:

ii.

xi:
fi:

11
3

12
6

13
10

14
8

20
30
40
50
5
8
12
9
[ Answer: i. 1.5657 ii. 17.189 ]

15
5
60
7

16
3
70
5

17
2

80
2

90
1

From the following data, calculate the Coefficient of variation..

Marks:
No. of students:

0-5
2

5-10
5

10-15
7

15-20
13

20-25
21

25-30
16

30-35
8

35-40
3

[ Answer: 36.52% ]
4.

Find the mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation.

Age in years:
No. of persons:

5.

35-45
14

45-55
8

55-65
2

30-40
40-50
7
13
[ Answer: Rs. 13.61 ]

50-60
21

60-70
15

70-80
8

20-40
40-60
60-80
7
12
16
[ Answer: 28.4345 and 36.5988% ]

80-100
13

100-120
13

2500-3000

3000-3500

3500-4000

120-140
4

4000-4500

4500-5000

14

11
15
18
[ Answer: 628.4106 and 16.99% ]

18
15

13
9
21
22
27
11
[ Answer: Type A is more consistent ]

20
9

12
21

25
14

Find in which of the following subjects, there is more variation of marks.

Subject A:
57
27
61
39
7
95
80
16
Subject B:
21
16
78
70
41
43
57
35
[ Answer: (C.V.)A = 65.76, (C.V.)B = 54.05. Subject A is more variable ]

11.

80-90
5

The following data gives returns, expressed in percentages, from two types of investments A and B
over a period of 7 years. Which type gives a more consistent return?
Type A
Type B

10.

25-35
20

Find the standard deviation and the coefficient of variation for the following data:
Daily collection
in Rs.
No. of Agents:

9.

5-15
15-25
7
12
[ Answer: 12.75 ]

Find the standard deviation of the following data. Also find the coefficient of variation.
Class Interval:
Frequency:

8.

50-60
2

The daily wages of 69 workers are given below. Find the standard deviation of wages:
Daily wages in Rs.:
No. of workers:

7.

40-50
4

Find the standard deviation:

Marks:
No. of students:

6.

0-10
10-20
20-30
30-40
3
7
12
10
[ Answer: 27.89, 12.546, 44.9839% ]

5
14

56
22

Find the coefficients of variation for the following sets representing marks of two groups of
students. Which group is more consistent?

Group A:
Group B:

85
84

83
83

87
72

90
79

65
75

75
70

57
67

70
80

[ Answer: (C.V.)A = 14.3494, (C.V.)B = 7.6401, Group B is more consistent ]

12.

13.

14.

The mean and standard deviation of a group of observation are 25.5 and 10.87 respectively. For
another group of observations of the same type, the mean and standard deviation are 37.5 and
4.89. Which group is more variable?
[ Answer: Group I is more variable ]
The mean and standard deviation of a group of observations are 25.5 and 10.87 respectively. For
another group of observations of the same type the mean and standard deviation are 37.5 and
4.89 respectively. Which group is more consistent?
[ Answer: Group I is more variable ]
The following is the data representing profits in thousands of rupees of some companies. Find
the coefficient of variation.
Profit (000 Rs)
No. of companies:

20-40
7

40-60
12

60-80
16

80-100
13

100-120
13

120-140
4

[ Answer: 16.3486% ]
15.

The distribution of payments to a number of salesmen is given below. Find the standard
deviation and coefficient of variation.
Payment in
Rs.:
100 120
120 140
140 160
160 180
180 200

16.

No. of Salesmen

Payment in Rs.:

No. of Salesmen

4
10
16
29
52

200 220
220 240
240 260
260 280
280 300

50
32
23
17
7

[ Answer: 19.3721% ]
Find the coefficient of variation for the following data:
Amount in Rs.
500 599
600 699
700 799
800 899

No. of workers
25
42
55
70
[ Answer: 20.8793% ]

Amount in Rs.
900 999
1000 1099
1100 1199
1200 1299

No. of workers
62
50
35
11

Combined Standard Deviation:

If n1 and n2 are the number of observations of two groups with means x 1 and x 2 and standard
deviations 1 and 2 respectively then their combined standard deviation denoted by

12 =

12 is given by

n1 12 d12 n2 22 d 22
n1 n2

Where d1 x 1 : x 12 and d 2 x 2 : x 12

Problems:
1.

The following are some particulars of the distribution of weights of boys and girls in a class.
Find the standard deviation of the combined group.

2.

Boys
Girls
Number
100
50
Mean weight
60 kgs.
45 kgs.
Std. Deviation
3 kgs.
2 kgs.
[ Answer: 7.57 kgs. ]
Find the combined mean and combined standard deviation for the following:

Male
Female
Number
40
60
Mean Height
170 cms
160 cms
Std. Deviation
5 cms.
2 cms
[ Answer: 164 cms & 6.03 cms ]
Find the combined mean and combined standard deviation for the following:

4.

5.

Group I
Group II
Number
70
90
Mean Height
75
82
Std. Deviation
4
7
[ Answer: 78.9375 & 6.83 ]
The first of the two samples in a group has 100 items with mean 15 and standard deviation 3. If
the whole group has 250 items with mean 15.6 and standard deviation 13.44 , find the standard
deviation of the second group. [ Answer: 4 ]
There are two groups of workers with the following information:
Group I
Group II
Number
400
500
Mean wages
Rs.50
Rs.41
Std. Deviation
Rs.5

The standard deviation of the combined group of 900 workers is Rs. 37 . Find the standard
deviation of the second group. [ Answer: 3.2557 ]

6.

Find the combined mean and combined standard deviation for the following:
Number
Mean Heigh
t
Variance

Group I
50

Group II
150

240

220

196

324

[ Answer: 225 & 19.1572 ]

7.

Find the combined mean and combined standard deviation for the following:
Number
Mean Height
Variance
[ Answer: 11.9 ]

Group I
100
83
16

Group II
200
87
9

8.

The arithmetic mean and the standard deviation of 100 items are found to be 40 and 10
respectively. If at the time of calculations one item was wrongly taken as 30 instead of 3. Find
the correct mean and correct standard deviation. [ Answer: 39.73 & 10.6121 ]

9.

The arithmetic mean and standard deviation of a group of 200 items were 150 and 19
respectively. It was afterwards found that one item was wrongly considered as 155 instead of
125. Find the correct mean and correct standard deviation.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.
16.

[ Answer: 149.85 & 19.0782 ]

The values of mean and standard deviation for 50 observations were 475 and 25 respectively. It
was observed that one item was wrongly considered as 400 instead of 500. Find the correct
mean and correct standard deviation.
[ Answer: 477 & 22.8254 ]
The mean and standard deviation of a group of 30 observations were respectively 125 and 11. It
was afterwards found that two observations were wrongly considered as 105 and 107 instead of
135 and 137 respectively. Find the correct mean and correct standard deviation.
[ Answer: 127 and 10.049 ]
The mean and standard deviation of 25 observations were 42 and 8 respectively. Two values
were wrongly recorded as 25 and 20. Find the correct mean and correct standard deviation after
deleting the wrong values.
[ Answer: 43.6957 & 5.7513 ]
The mean and standard deviation of a group of 30 observations were 93 and 7 respectively. It
was detected that three observations were wrongly taken as 89, 65 and 73. Find the correct mean
and correct standard deviation after deleting the wrong values.
[ Answer: 94.106 & 5.044 ]
The arithmetic mean and standard deviation of the wage distribution of 1000 workers are
Rs.480/- and Rs. 726.4 . The arithmetic mean and standard deviation of 400 workers out of
them are Rs.450/- and Rs.10/-. Find the mean and standard deviation of the remaining 600
workers.
[ Answer: Rs.500/- and Rs.12/- ]
The coefficient of variation of a group of observations was 23.0716% and the mean was 57.2
Find the standard deviation of the group.
[ Answer: 13.1970 ]
The coefficient of variation for a group was 30.908 and mean is 13.625. Find the standard
deviation.
[ Answer: 4.2112 ]
17. The standard deviation and coefficient of variation of a distribution are 13.7568 and 2.0923.
Find the mean.
[ Answer: 657.4965 ]

18.

The following data gives the means and standard deviations of two groups of workers.
Number
Mean Height
Standard Deviation
Find

Group A
400
Rs.450/Rs.10/-

Group B
600
Rs.500/Rs.12/-

i)
ii)
iii)

Which group has a larger wage bill?

Which group is more consistent?
What is the combined mean and standard deviation of all the workers taken
together?
[ Answer: i. Group B ii. Group A iii. 480 and 26.951 ]

10