PSY201H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Central Tendency, Standard Deviation, Level Of Measurement
Document Summary
Variability - provides a quantitative measure of the differences between scores in a distribution and describes the degree to which the scores are spread out or clustered together. In statistics, the goal is to measure the amount of variability for a particular set of scores, distribution. If the scores in a distribution are all the same = no variability. If there are small differences between scores = variability is small. If there are large differences between scores = variability is large. Variability can also be viewed as measuring predictability, consistendcy, even diversity. These are all concerned with the differences between scores or between individuals. Purposes of a good variability: variability describes the distribution of scores, tells whether the scores are clustered close together or spread out over a large distance. 4 different measures of variability: range, interquartile range, standard deviation, variance.
