Measures of Dispersion
(The Range)
What is a Range?

The range is a basic measure of dispersion that
provides an indication of how spread out the values
in a dataset are. It is the simplest measure of spread
and is calculated as the difference between the
largest and smallest values in the dataset.
To compute the range of a
dataset, follow these steps:

Step 1: Organize the Data

Arrange the data in either ascending or
descending order. This step is crucial because
the range depends on the minimum and
maximum values in the dataset.

Step 2: Identify the Minimum and Maximum
Values
Determine the smallest value (minimum) and the largest
value (maximum) from the organized dataset.

Step 3: Calculate the Range
Subtract the minimum value from the maximum value.
For example, let's say you have a
dataset of exam scores:

65,72,75,81,84,88,92,95,9865,72,75,81,84,88,92,95,
98
Mathematically, the range (R) is calculated
as:
�=max−min R=max−min

The range gives you an idea of how spread out the
values are in the dataset. It is simple to compute but
doesn't consider all the values in the dataset and can be
affected by outliers. Therefore, it is often used alongside
other measures of dispersion for a more comprehensive
analysis of data spread.