Business Statistics Made Easy in SAS

Basic Statistics Assessing Variable Spread

Spread Revisited

In Chapter 3 we discussed the concept of variable spread. Apart from statistics like the mean that represent the centrality of the data in a variable, we also need statistics that speak to the extent to which the data spreads away from the middle. The following are some common statistics that measure spread.

Continuous Variable Spread: Standard Deviations & Variances

A standard deviation (SD) is a score that we can use for the spread of data away from an average, although only in the case of continuous (interval or ratio) data. There is also a related measure called a variance. Take a look at Figure 7.1 Example of a final descriptive statistics table on page 68 which gives standard ...