Relative dispersion: what it means and how to read it

In the report: relativeDispersion — std / median; empty when the median is 0.

How to read it

The spread relative to the median. It is not protected from extreme values: the standard deviation on top of the ratio still reacts to them.

In plain words

A shop owner looked at the bills of her customers. The middle bill was 50 dollars, and bills usually differed by about 25 dollars, the standard deviation. She wanted one number to compare this month with the last one. The relativeDispersion came out 0.5: bills usually differ by about half of a middle bill. Last month they differed by only about 15 dollars on a middle bill of 50. Now she can say that this month the bills are more uneven than before. But a few huge bills still push this number up, even though it starts from the middle bill, so she checks for odd bills first.

How it is computed

std / median

Where you see it

STATS_DESCRIPTIVE — Column-wise descriptive statistics with flexible metric selection and optional column filtering.

Skewness — The asymmetry of the distribution, with the sample correction as in Excel and SPSS; empty for fewer than 3 values or a column of equal values.
Kurtosis — Excess kurtosis: how heavy the tails are compared with the normal distribution (0), with the sample correction as in Excel and SPSS; empty for fewer than 4 values or a column of equal values.
First quartile — The first quartile: 25% of the values are below it; computed as in SPSS, so it can differ from the Sheets QUARTILE and PERCENTILE functions.
Third quartile — The third quartile: 75% of the values are below it; computed as in SPSS, so it can differ from the Sheets QUARTILE and PERCENTILE functions.
10th percentile — The 10th percentile: 10% of the values are below it; computed as in SPSS, so it can differ from the Sheets QUARTILE and PERCENTILE functions.

Get it in your sheet

One formula in a cell gives the whole report, Relative dispersion included. ALS Stats is a free add-on for Google Sheets™.

Install ALS Stats from Google Workspace Marketplace (opens in a new tab)