Skip to content

Explore Courses | Elder Research | Contact | LMS Login

Statistics.com Logo
  • Courses
    • See All Courses
    • Calendar
    • Intro stats for college credit
    • Faculty
    • Group training
    • Credit & Credentialing
    • Teach With Us
  • Programs/Degrees
    • Certificates
      • Analytics for Data Science
      • Biostatistics
      • Programming For Data Science – Python (Experienced)
      • Programming For Data Science – Python (Novice)
      • Programming For Data Science – R (Experienced)
      • Programming For Data Science – R (Novice)
      • Social Science
    • Undergraduate Degree Programs
    • Graduate Degree Programs
    • Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)
  • Partnerships
    • Higher Education
    • Enterprise
  • Resources
    • About Us
    • Blog
    • Word Of The Week
    • News and Announcements
    • Newsletter signup
    • Glossary
    • Statistical Symbols
    • FAQs & Knowledge Base
    • Testimonials
    • Test Yourself
Menu
  • Courses
    • See All Courses
    • Calendar
    • Intro stats for college credit
    • Faculty
    • Group training
    • Credit & Credentialing
    • Teach With Us
  • Programs/Degrees
    • Certificates
      • Analytics for Data Science
      • Biostatistics
      • Programming For Data Science – Python (Experienced)
      • Programming For Data Science – Python (Novice)
      • Programming For Data Science – R (Experienced)
      • Programming For Data Science – R (Novice)
      • Social Science
    • Undergraduate Degree Programs
    • Graduate Degree Programs
    • Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)
  • Partnerships
    • Higher Education
    • Enterprise
  • Resources
    • About Us
    • Blog
    • Word Of The Week
    • News and Announcements
    • Newsletter signup
    • Glossary
    • Statistical Symbols
    • FAQs & Knowledge Base
    • Testimonials
    • Test Yourself
Student Login

Dispersion (Measures of)

Dispersion (Measures of)

Dispersion (Measures of):

Measures of dispersion express quantitatively the degree of variation or dispersion of values in a population or in a sample . Along with measures of central tendency , measures of dispersion are widely used in practice as descriptive statistics . Some measures of dispersion are the standard deviation , the average deviation , the range , the interquartile range .

For example, the dispersion in the sample of 5 values (98,99,100,101,102) is smaller than the dispersion in the sample (80,90,100,110,120), although both samples have the same central location - "100", as measured by, say, the mean or the median . Most measures of dispersion would be 10 times greater for the second sample than for the first one (although the values themselves may be different for different measures of dispersion).

It is important from a practical standpoint that measures of dispersion are normally constructed to be shift invariant and scale invariant . If a measure is not scale invariant, for example, then the value of dispersion might depend on the units of measurement. For example, say the value of dispersion of prices of a particular CD-player model across a country is $10. If the measure of dispersion is scale-invariant and you convert all the prices from dollars to cents by multiplying them by 100, then the measure of dispersion will change from 10 (dollars) to 1000 (cents).

Browse Other Glossary Entries

Courses Using This Term

Loading...
Historical Spotlight – ISOQOL
Survival Analysis
This course will teach you the various methods used for modeling and evaluating survival data or time-to event data.
Return to Glossary Search

About Statistics.com

Statistics.com offers academic and professional education in statistics, analytics, and data science at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels of instruction. Statistics.com is a part of Elder Research, a data science consultancy with 25 years of experience in data analytics.

 The Institute for Statistics Education is certified to operate by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV)

Our Links

  • Contact Us
  • Site Map
  • Explore Courses
  • About Us
  • Management Team
  • Contact Us
  • Site Map
  • Explore Courses
  • About Us
  • Management Team

Social Networks

Facebook Twitter Youtube Linkedin

Contact

The Institute for Statistics Education
2107 Wilson Blvd
Suite 850 
Arlington, VA 22201
(571) 281-8817

ourcourses@statistics.com

  • Contact Us
  • Site Map
  • Explore Courses
  • About Us
  • Management Team

© Copyright 2023 - Statistics.com, LLC | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

By continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.

Accept