Range
Range is a basic statistical measure that describes the spread of a dataset by comparing its smallest and largest values.
What is range?
Range measures how far apart the minimum and maximum values in a dataset are. It is the simplest indicator of variability in statistics.
A small range means that data values are close together, while a large range indicates greater dispersion.
Range formula
The range is calculated using the following formula:
Where:
- Maximum value is the largest value in the dataset
- Minimum value is the smallest value in the dataset
Example of range
Maximum = 25
Minimum = 5
Range = 25 − 5 = 20
How to interpret range
Range gives a quick overview of data spread but does not describe how values are distributed between the minimum and maximum.
Because it only depends on two values, range is usually interpreted alongside other measures such as variance and standard deviation.
Advantages of range
Range is useful because it is:
- Easy to calculate
- Quick to interpret
- Helpful for initial data exploration
Limitations of range
Despite its simplicity, range has important limitations:
- Highly sensitive to outliers
- Ignores all values between minimum and maximum
- Does not reflect the overall distribution shape
Range vs variance and standard deviation
Range considers only the extreme values of a dataset, while variance and standard deviation take all data points into account.
For this reason, range is best used as a complementary measure rather than a standalone indicator of variability.
When is range used?
Range is commonly used in:
- Basic statistical analysis
- Exploratory data analysis
- Educational contexts