X D = x−x D = x − Md

100 269 260

150 219 210
200 169 160
250 119 110
360 9 0
490 121 130
500 131 140
600 231 240
671 302 311
3321 1570 1561

M.D from mean =

∑D
n
1570
= = 174.44
9
M.D
Co-efficient of M.D =
x
174.44
= = 0.47
369

M.D from median =

∑D
n
1561
= = 173.44
9
M.D 173.44
Co-efficient of M.D.= = = 0.48
Median 360
7.5.4 Mean Deviation – Discrete series:
Steps: 1. Find out an average (mean, median or mode)
2. Find out the deviation of the variable values from the
average, ignoring signs and denote them by D
3. Multiply the deviation of each value by its respective
frequency and find out the total ∑ f D

151
 4. Divide ∑ f D by the total frequencies N

Symbolically, M.D. =
∑f D
N
Example 7:
Compute Mean deviation from mean and median from the
following data:
Height 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166
in cms
No. of 15 20 32 35 33 22 20 10 8
persons
Also compute coefficient of mean deviation.
Solution:
Height No. of d= x- A |D| = f|D|
X persons A =162 fd |X- mean|
f
158 15 -4 - 60 3.51 52.65
159 20 -3 - 60 2.51 50.20
160 32 -2 - 64 1.51 48.32
161 35 -1 - 35 0.51 17.85
162 33 0 0 0.49 16.17
163 22 1 22 1.49 32.78
164 20 2 40 2.49 49.80
165 10 3 30 3.49 34.90
166 8 4 32 4.49 35.92
195 - 95 338.59

x = A+
∑ fd
N
− 95
= 162 + = 162 – 0.49 = 161.51
195

M.D. =
∑ f D = 338.59 = 1.74
N 195

152
 M.D 1.74
Coefficient of M.D.= = = 0.0108
X 161.51
Height No. of D =
x persons c.f. f D
f X − Median
158 15 15 3 45
159 20 35 2 40
160 32 67 1 32
161 35 102 0 0
162 33 135 1 33
163 22 157 2 44
164 20 177 3 60
165 10 187 4 40
166 8 195 5 40
195 334
th
 N +1 
Median = Size of   item
 2 
th
 195 +1 
= Size of   item
 2 
= Size of 98 th item
= 161

M.D =
∑ f D = 334 = 1.71
N 195

M.D 1.71
Coefficient of M.D. = = =.0106
Median 161
7.5.5 Mean deviation-Continuous series:
The method of calculating mean deviation in a continuous
series same as the discrete series.In continuous series we have to
find out the mid points of the various classes and take deviation of
these points from the average selected. Thus
∑f | D |
M.D =
N

153
Where D = m - average
M = Mid point
Example 8:
Find out the mean deviation from mean and median from the
following series.
Age in years No.of
persons
0-10 20
10-20 25
20-30 32
30-40 40
40-50 42
50-60 35
60-70 10
70-80 8
Also compute co-efficient of mean deviation.
Solution:

m−A D =
X m f d= fd
c f D
m−x
(A=35,C=10)

0-10 5 20 -3 -60 31.5 630.0

10-20 15 25 -2 -50 21.5 537.5
20-30 25 32 -1 -32 11.5 368.0
30-40 35 40 0 0 1.5 60.0
40-50 45 42 1 42 8.5 357.0
50-60 55 35 2 70 18.5 647.5
60-70 65 10 3 30 28.5 285.0
70-80 75 8 4 32 38.5 308.0
212 32 3193.0

x = A+
∑ fd × c
N
32 320
= 35 + × 10 = 35 + = 35 + 1.5 = 36.5
212 212
154
M.D. =
∑f D 3193
= = 15.06
N 212
Calculation of median and M.D. from median

X m f c.f |D| = |m-Md| f |D|

0-10 5 20 20 32.25 645.00

10-20 15 25 45 22.25 556.25
20-30 25 32 77 12.25 392.00
30-40 35 40 117 2.25 90.00
40-50 45 42 159 7.75 325.50
50-60 55 35 194 17.75 621.25
60-70 65 10 204 27.75 277.50
70-80 75 8 212 37.75 302.00
Total 3209.50
N 212
= = 106
2 2
l = 30, m = 77, f = 40, c = 10
N
− m
Median = l + 2 × c
f
106 - 77
= 30 + × 10
40
29
= 30 +
4
= 30 + 7.25 = 37.25
∑f | D |
M. D. =
N
3209.5
= = 15.14
212
M.D
Coefficient of M.D =
Median
15.14
= = 0.41
37.25
155
7.5.6 Merits and Demerits of M.D :
Merits:
1. It is simple to understand and easy to compute.
2. It is rigidly defined.
3. It is based on all items of the series.
4. It is not much affected by the fluctuations of sampling.
5. It is less affected by the extreme items.
6. It is flexible, because it can be calculated from any
average.
7. It is better measure of comparison.
Demerits:
1. It is not a very accurate measure of dispersion.
2. It is not suitable for further mathematical calculation.
3. It is rarely used. It is not as popular as standard deviation.
4. Algebraic positive and negative signs are ignored. It is
mathematically unsound and illogical.
7.6 Standard Deviation and Coefficient of variation:
7.6.1 Standard Deviation :
Karl Pearson introduced the concept of standard deviation
in 1893. It is the most important measure of dispersion and is
widely used in many statistical formulae. Standard deviation is also
called Root-Mean Square Deviation. The reason is that it is the
square–root of the mean of the squared deviation from the
arithmetic mean. It provides accurate result. Square of standard
deviation is called Variance.
Definition:
It is defined as the positive square-root of the arithmetic
mean of the Square of the deviations of the given observation from
their arithmetic mean.
The standard deviation is denoted by the Greek letter σ (sigma)
7.6.2 Calculation of Standard deviation-Individual Series :
There are two methods of calculating Standard deviation in
an individual series.
a) Deviations taken from Actual mean
b) Deviation taken from Assumed mean
156
a) Deviation taken from Actual mean:
This method is adopted when the mean is a whole number.
Steps:
1. Find out the actual mean of the series ( x )
2. Find out the deviation of each value from the mean

3.Square the deviations and take the total of squared

deviations ∑x2
 ∑ x2 
4. Divide the total ( ∑x2 ) by the number of observation  
 n 
 ∑ x2 
The square root of   is standard deviation.
 n 

 ∑ x2  Σ(x − x) 2
Thus σ =   or
 n  n
b) Deviations taken from assumed mean:
This method is adopted when the arithmetic mean is
fractional value.
Taking deviations from fractional value would be a very
difficult and tedious task. To save time and labour, We apply short
–cut method; deviations are taken from an assumed mean. The
formula is:
∑d2  ∑d 
2

σ = − 
N  N 
Where d-stands for the deviation from assumed mean = (X-A)
Steps:
1. Assume any one of the item in the series as an average (A)
2. Find out the deviations from the assumed mean; i.e., X-A
denoted by d and also the total of the deviations ∑d
3. Square the deviations; i.e., d2 and add up the squares of
deviations, i.e, ∑d2
4. Then substitute the values in the following formula:

157
 ∑d2  ∑d 
2

σ = −  
n  n 
Note: We can also use the simplified formula for standard
deviation.
n ∑ d 2 − (∑ d )
1
=
2

n
For the frequency distribution
N ∑ fd 2 − (∑ fd )
c
=
2

N
Example 9:
Calculate the standard deviation from the following data.
14, 22, 9, 15, 20, 17, 12, 11
Solution:
Deviations from actual mean.

Values (X)
14 -1 1
22 7 49
9 -6 36
15 0 0
20 5 25
17 2 4
12 -3 9
11 -4 16
120 140
120
X= =15
8
Σ(x − x)2
σ =
n
140
=
8
= 17.5 = 4.18

158
Example 10:
The table below gives the marks obtained by 10 students in
statistics. Calculate standard deviation.
Student Nos : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Marks : 43 48 65 57 31 60 37 48 78 59
Solution: (Deviations from assumed mean)
Nos. Marks (x) d=X-A (A=57) d2

1 43 -14 196
2 48 -9 81
3 65 8 64
4 57 0 0
5 31 -26 676
6 60 3 9
7 37 -20 400
8 48 -9 81
9 78 21 441
10 59 2 4

n = 10 ∑d=-44 ∑d2 =1952

∑d2  ∑d 
2

σ = −  
n  n 
 −44 
2
1952
= −  
10  10 
= 195.2 − 19.36
= 175.84 = 13.26
7.6.3 Calculation of standard deviation:
Discrete Series:
There are three methods for calculating standard deviation
in discrete series:
(a) Actual mean methods
(b) Assumed mean method
(c) Step-deviation method.
159
(a) Actual mean method:
Steps:
1. Calculate the mean of the series.
2. Find deviations for various items from the means i.e.,
x- x = d.
3. Square the deviations (= d2 ) and multiply by the respective
frequencies(f) we get fd2
4. Total to product (∑fd2 ) Then apply the formula:
∑ fd 2
σ =
∑f
If the actual mean in fractions, the calculation takes lot of
time and labour; and as such this method is rarely used in practice.
(b) Assumed mean method:
Here deviation are taken not from an actual mean but from
an assumed mean. Also this method is used, if the given variable
values are not in equal intervals.
Steps:
1. Assume any one of the items in the series as an assumed
mean and denoted by A.
2. Find out the deviations from assumed mean, i.e, X-A and
denote it by d.
3. Multiply these deviations by the respective frequencies and
get the ∑fd
4. Square the deviations (d2 ).
5. Multiply the squared deviations (d2) by the respective
frequencies (f) and get ∑fd2.
6. Substitute the values in the following formula:
∑ fd 2  ∑ fd 
2

σ= − 
∑f  ∑f 
Where d = X −A , N = ∑f.
Example 11:
Calculate Standard deviation from the following data.
X: 20 22 25 31 35 40 42 45
f: 5 12 15 20 25 14 10 6
160
Solution:
Deviations from assumed mean
x f d = x –A d2 fd fd2
(A = 31)
20 5 -11 121 -55 605
22 12 -9 81 -108 972
25 15 -6 36 -90 540
31 20 0 0 0 0
35 25 4 16 100 400
40 14 9 81 126 1134
42 10 11 121 110 1210
45 6 14 196 84 1176
N=107 ∑fd=167 ∑fd2
=6037
∑ fd 2  ∑ fd 
2

σ= − 
∑f  ∑f 
2
6037  167 
= − 
107  107 
= 56.42 − 2.44
= 53.98 = 7.35
(c) Step-deviation method:
If the variable values are in equal intervals, then we adopt
this method.
Steps:
1. Assume the center value of the series as assumed mean A
x−A
2. Find out d = , where C is the interval between each
C
value
3. Multiply these deviations d’ by the respective frequencies
and get ∑fd
4. Square the deviations and get d 2
5. Multiply the squared deviation (d 2 ) by the respective
frequencies (f) and obtain the total ∑fd 2
161