What does the range measure?

What does the range measure?

• A. The lowest to highest scores
• B. The average score
• C. The standard deviation
• D. The correlation coefficient

Answer: (A)

The range measures how spread out the data are by looking at the difference between the smallest and largest scores. It’s calculated as the maximum value minus the minimum value, giving you the span of the data from the lowest to the highest point. This directly captures the extent of variation at the outer edges of the data set. It’s not about the central tendency, which is what the average (mean) represents. It also isn’t a measure of dispersion that uses all values relative to the center, like the standard deviation. And it doesn’t describe a relationship between two variables, which is what the correlation coefficient does. For example, in a data set ranging from 3 to 12, the range is 9, reflecting the total spread from the lowest to the highest score.

The range measures how spread out the data are by looking at the difference between the smallest and largest scores. It’s calculated as the maximum value minus the minimum value, giving you the span of the data from the lowest to the highest point. This directly captures the extent of variation at the outer edges of the data set.

It’s not about the central tendency, which is what the average (mean) represents. It also isn’t a measure of dispersion that uses all values relative to the center, like the standard deviation. And it doesn’t describe a relationship between two variables, which is what the correlation coefficient does. For example, in a data set ranging from 3 to 12, the range is 9, reflecting the total spread from the lowest to the highest score.