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Sensitivity of the Range to Outliers
Although the range is easy to compute, it can provide a misleading impression of a distribution's variability when outliers are present. Because the range relies solely on the absolute highest and lowest values, a single extreme score will drastically inflate the range, giving the false appearance that the entire dataset is widely spread out.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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Example of the Range's Sensitivity to Outliers
What is the primary reason the range can provide a misleading impression of a distribution's variability when outliers are present?
A researcher collects reaction-time scores (in milliseconds) from 10 participants: 220, 230, 225, 240, 235, 228, 232, 226, 238, and 812. The last participant's unusually high score was caused by a distraction during testing. If the researcher computes the range for this dataset, the resulting value will accurately reflect how spread out the typical participants' scores are.