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Variability

Definition

Variability refers to the spread or dispersion of data points in a dataset. It measures how much the values differ from each other.

Analogy

Think of variability as a group of friends going to a party. If everyone arrives at different times and in different outfits, there is high variability. But if everyone arrives at the same time and wearing similar clothes, there is low variability.

Related terms

Range: The range is a measure of variability that calculates the difference between the maximum and minimum values in a dataset.

Standard Deviation: Standard deviation is another measure of variability that quantifies how much individual data points deviate from the mean.

Interquartile Range (IQR): IQR measures the spread of data by calculating the difference between the third quartile and first quartile values. It focuses on the middle 50% of data points, ignoring outliers.



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© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.

AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.