What is the dispersion measure defined as the difference between the largest and smallest value in a data set?

What is the dispersion measure defined as the difference between the largest and smallest value in a data set?

• A. Variance
• B. Standard Deviation
• C. Range
• D. Mean

Answer: (C)

This is about how spread out the data are. The quantity defined as the difference between the largest and smallest value in a data set is the range. It gives a simple, overall sense of the dispersion by showing the full span of the data from the minimum to the maximum. Variance and standard deviation, by contrast, measure how far individual values tend to deviate from the center (the mean) and involve squaring those deviations, which makes the measure more sensitive to outliers and more computationally involved. The mean, meanwhile, is a measure of central tendency, not spread. So the range best fits the idea of dispersion described.

This is about how spread out the data are. The quantity defined as the difference between the largest and smallest value in a data set is the range. It gives a simple, overall sense of the dispersion by showing the full span of the data from the minimum to the maximum.

Variance and standard deviation, by contrast, measure how far individual values tend to deviate from the center (the mean) and involve squaring those deviations, which makes the measure more sensitive to outliers and more computationally involved. The mean, meanwhile, is a measure of central tendency, not spread. So the range best fits the idea of dispersion described.