Question

The measures of dispersion of a dataset are

• A. standard deviation, range and mode.
• B. standard deviation, range and interquartile range.
• C. variance, range and median.
• D. interquartile range, median and mode.

Hint:

Mode and median describe the center of data, not its spread—always distinguish measures of central tendency from measures of dispersion.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Measures of dispersion describe how much the values in a dataset spread away from the central value. The most commonly accepted statistical measures of dispersion are:
1. Range: The simplest measure, calculated as maximum minus minimum. It shows overall spread.
2. Interquartile Range (IQR): The spread of the middle 50% of the data (Q3 − Q1), providing a robust measure unaffected by outliers.
3. Standard Deviation: Indicates the average deviation of observations from the mean and is one of the most widely used dispersion measures.
The other options incorrectly list median or mode, which are measures of central tendency—not dispersion. Thus, option (B) correctly lists three true dispersion measures.