The range is a statistical measure which aims to calculate the spread between the minimum and maximum value in a data set. Although, when calculating the range, it is important to know that this measure is quite sensitive to outliers and consequently, the range may be instead more useful for distinguishing the maximum and minimum values over the total range (1).
Calculating the range is fairly simple. The first step in evaluating the range is re-ordering the data set from the smallest to the largest value. Consider this data set: 6, 2, 8, 10, 15, 24, 18, 20. Once you re-order this data set, the new order becomes: 2, 6, 8, 10, 15, 18, 20, 24.
The range is equal to the difference between the maximum and minimum value. Therefore, the range = 24 – 2 = 22.
Reference:
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198538/
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