Which statistics describe dispersion in a data set?

• A. Standard deviation, range, min and max
• B. Mean, median, mode
• C. Chi-square, ANOVA
• D. P-value, alpha

Answer: (A)

Describing dispersion is about how spread out the values are. The statistics that quantify this spread are standard deviation, range, and the minimum and maximum values. Standard deviation indicates how far individual observations typically lie from the mean, capturing the overall variability in the data. The range, computed as max minus min, gives a quick sense of the total spread, though it can be influenced by outliers. The minimum and maximum values show the endpoints of the data, illustrating the full extent of the spread. By contrast, mean, median, and mode describe central tendency, not how dispersed the data are. Chi-square and ANOVA are inferential tests used to compare groups or distributions, and p-value and alpha relate to significance decisions rather than dispersion.