Dispersion and Deviation

In the world of data analysis, it is important to take note of the variability of data values for computation. Technically, variability provides an outlook whether there is a certain condition that data follows to achieve a certain computational characteristic. It comes from the root word “varied” and depicts a notion to analyze whether data sets are varied from each other or not. Usually, variability can be structured among randomly selected numerical values and intends to measure how spread out a group of data is (Lane, 2003).
Dispersion is considered to be a measure of variability because it provides a big picture of how scattered the data values are. In gathering data sets, there is always a possibility for the numerical values for them not to align in a certain average. Therefore, dispersion gives the researcher an idea how widely dispersed each of the data is with respect to each other. Another measure of variability is deviation. Deviation is the actual distance of a measurement data from the average of the whole data set or the Mean (Wiley, 2000).
There are two forms of computational deviation, the variance and the standard deviation. The variance is the average of the squared deviation measured from the population or sample average (Star Trek, 2007). Meanwhile, Standard Deviation is the variance’s square root. In the research that intends to provide alternative Treatment Educational Course for Parents of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, the possible areas where variability can be seen is with regards to the variables involved under measurement.

There might be some variations about the effect of the parents’ gender to nurturing their child with ADHD. Variation between the male and female perspectives can be measured by using implicit data acquisition such as surveying, interviewing or experimental design. Another possible source of variability can be considered in the education background of the parents. People who were able to complete their education and people who have not will more likely result to some variations with their answers on the surveys, evaluations and impression on the proposed alternative treatment for ADHD.
References
Lane, David (2003). Measures of Variability. Retrieved November 6, 2008, from Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m10947/latest/
Star Trek, (2007). Statistics Tutorial: Measures of Variability. Retrieved November 6, 2008, from Star Trek Web site: http://stattrek.com/Lesson3/Variability.aspx
Wiley, (2000). Statistics Measures of Variability. Retrieved November 6, 2008, from CliffsNotes Web site: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/CliffsReviewTopic/Measures-of-Variability.topicArticleId-25951,articleId-25906.html