descriptive statistics: measures of dispersion Flashcards
what is the range?
different between biggest value and smallest value
what are the strengths of the range?
easy to calculate
what are the limitations of the range?
● does not account for distribution of scores - only highest and lowest values included in calculation
● does not indicate whether numbers are closely grouped around the mean or spread out evenly
what is the standard deviation?
● value tells us how far scores deviate from mean
● larger the standard deviation - greater the dispersion (scores are inconsistent)
● smaller the standard deviation - more clustered results will be around mean (scores are more consistent)
what are the strengths of the standard deviation?
more precise measure of dispersion - includes all values within final calculation
what are the limitations of the standard deviation?
can be distorted by extreme values - all values are included