1-38 MEASURING SPREAD
1. One way to measure the spread of data is to calculate the range (maximum minus minimum). What range of cell sizes did each sugar grow? Why is the range often not a wetul
measure of spread?
b. Another method for measuring the spread is the average distance to the moan, called the mean absolute deviation Find the distance each value is to the mean (remember to me
absolute value because districes are positivel), and find the mean distance. Compare the mean absoluto deviation of Sugar W to Sugar P.
c. A mean absolute deviation should not be calculated if the data has outliers or is not symmetric. Why?
d. When the data is not symmetric or has outliers, the interquartile range (IQR) can be used to measure spread. Compare the 1QR of the two sugars. If you need a reminder, read the
Math Notes box about calculating IQR at the end of Lesson 12.1.