Range (statistics)

Not to be confused with Mid-range.

This article is about the range in statistics. For the range as it pertains to functions, see range (mathematics).

In arithmetic, the range of a set of data is the difference between the largest and smallest values.^[1]

However, in descriptive statistics, this concept of range has a more complex meaning. The range is the size of the smallest interval which contains all the data and provides an indication of statistical dispersion. It is measured in the same units as the data. Since it only depends on two of the observations, it is most useful in representing the dispersion of small data sets.^[2]

Independent identically distributed continuous random variables

For n independent and identically distributed continuous random variables X₁, X₂, ..., X_n with cumulative distribution function G(x) and probability density function g(x) the of range the X_i is the range of a sample of size n from a population with distribution function G(x).

Distribution

The range has cumulative distribution function^[3]^[4]

F(t)=n\int _{{-\infty }}^{{\infty }}g(x)[G(x+t)-G(x)]^{{n-1}}{\text{d}}x.

Gumbel notes that the "beauty of this formula is completely marred by the facts that, in general, we cannot express G(x + t) by G(x), and that the numerical integration is lengthy and tiresome."^[3]

If the distribution of each X_i is limited to the right (or left) then the asymptotic distribution of the range is equal to the asymptotic distribution of the largest (smallest) value. For more general distributions the asymptotic distribution can be expressed as a Bessel function.^[3]

Moments

The mean range is given by^[5]

n\int _{0}^{1}x(G)[G^{n-1}-(1-G)^{n-1}]\,{\text{d}}G

where x(G) is the inverse function. In the case where each of the X_i has a standard normal distribution, the mean range is given by^[6]

\int _{-\infty }^{\infty }(1-(1-\Phi (x))^{n}-\Phi (x)^{n})\,{\text{d}}x.

Independent nonidentically distributed continuous random variables

For n nonidentically distributed independent continuous random variables X₁, X₂, ..., X_n with cumulative distribution functions G₁(x), G₂(x), ..., G_n(x) and probability density functions g₁(x), g₂(x), ..., g_n(x), the range has cumulative distribution function ^[4]

F(t)=\sum _{i=1}^{n}\int _{-\infty }^{\infty }g_{i}(x)\prod _{j=1,j\neq i}^{n}[G_{j}(x+t)-G_{j}(x)]\,{\text{d}}x.

Independent identically distributed discrete random variables

For n independent and identically distributed discrete random variables X₁, X₂, ..., X_n with cumulative distribution function G(x) and probability mass function g(x) the range of the X_i is the range of a sample of size n from a population with distribution function G(x). We can assume without loss of generality that the support of each X_i is {1,2,3,...,N} where N is a positive integer or infinity.^[7]^[8]

Distribution

The range has probability mass function^[7]^[9]^[10]

f(t)={\begin{cases}\sum _{x=1}^{N}[g(x)]^{n}&t=0\\[6pt]\sum _{x=1}^{N-t}\left({\begin{alignedat}{2}&[G(x+t)-G(x-1)]^{n}\\{}-{}&[G(x+t)-G(x)]^{n}\\{}-{}&[G(x+t-1)-G(x-1)]^{n}\\{}+{}&[G(x+t-1)-G(x)]^{n}\\\end{alignedat}}\right)&t=1,2,3\ldots ,N-1.\end{cases}}

Example

If we suppose that g(x) = 1/N, the discrete uniform distribution for all x, then we find^[9]^[11]

f(t)={\begin{cases}{\frac {1}{N^{n-1}}}&t=0\\[4pt]\sum _{x=1}^{N-t}\left([{\frac {t+1}{N}}]^{n}-2[{\frac {t}{N}}]^{n}+[{\frac {t-1}{N}}]^{n}\right)&t=1,2,3\ldots ,N-1.\end{cases}}

Related quantities

The range is a simple function of the sample maximum and minimum and these are specific examples of order statistics. In particular, the range is a linear function of order statistics, which brings it into the scope of L-estimation.

References

↑ George Woodbury (2001). An Introduction to Statistics. Cengage Learning. p. 74. ISBN 0534377556.
↑ Carin Viljoen (2000). Elementary Statistics: Vol 2. Pearson South Africa. pp. 7–27. ISBN 186891075X.
1 2 3 E. J. Gumbel (1947). "The Distribution of the Range". The Annals of Mathematical Statistics. 18 (3): 384–412. doi:10.1214/aoms/1177730387. JSTOR 2235736.
1 2 Tsimashenka, I.; Knottenbelt, W.; Harrison, P. (2012). "Controlling Variability in Split-Merge Systems". Analytical and Stochastic Modeling Techniques and Applications (PDF). Lecture Notes in Computer Science. 7314. p. 165. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-30782-9_12. ISBN 978-3-642-30781-2.
↑ H. O. Hartley; H. A. David (1954). "Universal Bounds for Mean Range and Extreme Observation". The Annals of Mathematical Statistics. 25 (1): 85–99. doi:10.1214/aoms/1177728848. JSTOR 2236514.
↑ L. H. C. Tippett (1925). "On the Extreme Individuals and the Range of Samples Taken from a Normal Population". Biometrika. 17 (3/4): 364–387. doi:10.1093/biomet/17.3-4.364. JSTOR 2332087.
1 2 Evans, D. L.; Leemis, L. M.; Drew, J. H. (2006). "The Distribution of Order Statistics for Discrete Random Variables with Applications to Bootstrapping". INFORMS Journal on Computing. 18: 19. doi:10.1287/ijoc.1040.0105.
↑ Irving W. Burr (1955). "Calculation of Exact Sampling Distribution of Ranges from a Discrete Population". The Annals of Mathematical Statistics. 26 (3): 530–532. doi:10.1214/aoms/1177728500. JSTOR 2236482.
1 2 Abdel-Aty, S. H. (1954). "Ordered variables in discontinuous distributions". Statistica Neerlandica. 8 (2): 61–82. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9574.1954.tb00442.x.
↑ Siotani, M. (1956). "Order statistics for discrete case with a numerical application to the binomial distribution". Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics. 8: 95–96. doi:10.1007/BF02863574.
↑ Paul R. Rider (1951). "The Distribution of the Range in Samples from a Discrete Rectangular Population". Journal of the American Statistical Association. 46 (255): 375–378. doi:10.1080/01621459.1951.10500796. JSTOR 2280515.

Statistics

Descriptive statistics

Continuous data

Center	Mean arithmetic geometric harmonic Median Mode

Dispersion	Variance Standard deviation Coefficient of variation Percentile Range Interquartile range

Shape	Moments Skewness Kurtosis L-moments

Count data

Index of dispersion

Summary tables

Dependence

Graphics

Data collection

Study design	Population Statistic Effect size Statistical power Sample size determination Missing data

Survey methodology	Sampling Standard error stratified cluster Opinion poll Questionnaire

Controlled experiments	Design control optimal Controlled trial Randomized Random assignment Replication Blocking Interaction Factorial experiment

Uncontrolled studies	Observational study Natural experiment Quasi-experiment

Statistical inference

Statistical theory

Frequentist inference

Point estimation	Estimating equations Maximum likelihood Method of moments M-estimator Minimum distance Unbiased estimators Mean-unbiased minimum-variance Rao–Blackwellization Lehmann–Scheffé theorem Median unbiased Plug-in

Interval estimation	Confidence interval Pivot Likelihood interval Prediction interval Tolerance interval Resampling Bootstrap Jackknife

Testing hypotheses	1- & 2-tails Power Uniformly most powerful test Permutation test Randomization test Multiple comparisons

Parametric tests	Likelihood-ratio Wald Score

Specific tests

Z (normal) Student's t-test F

Goodness of fit	Chi-squared Kolmogorov–Smirnov Anderson–Darling Normality (Shapiro–Wilk) Likelihood-ratio test Model selection Cross validation AIC BIC

Rank statistics	Sign Sample median Signed rank (Wilcoxon) Hodges–Lehmann estimator Rank sum (Mann–Whitney) Nonparametric anova 1-way (Kruskal–Wallis) 2-way (Friedman) Ordered alternative (Jonckheere–Terpstra)

Bayesian inference

Correlation	Pearson product–moment Partial correlation Confounding variable Coefficient of determination

Regression analysis	Errors and residuals Regression model validation Mixed effects models Simultaneous equations models Multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS)

Linear regression	Simple linear regression Ordinary least squares General linear model Bayesian regression

Non-standard predictors	Nonlinear regression Nonparametric Semiparametric Isotonic Robust Heteroscedasticity Homoscedasticity

Generalized linear model	Exponential families Logistic (Bernoulli) / Binomial / Poisson regressions

Partition of variance	Analysis of variance (ANOVA, anova) Analysis of covariance Multivariate ANOVA Degrees of freedom

Categorical / Multivariate / Time-series / Survival analysis

Categorical

Multivariate

Time-series

General	Decomposition Trend Stationarity Seasonal adjustment Exponential smoothing Cointegration Structural break Granger causality

Specific tests	Dickey–Fuller Johansen Q-statistic (Ljung–Box) Durbin–Watson Breusch–Godfrey

Time domain	Autocorrelation (ACF) partial (PACF) Cross-correlation (XCF) ARMA model ARIMA model (Box–Jenkins) Autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH) Vector autoregression (VAR)

Frequency domain	Spectral density estimation Fourier analysis Wavelet

Survival

Survival function	Kaplan–Meier estimator (product limit) Proportional hazards models Accelerated failure time (AFT) model First hitting time

Hazard function	Nelson–Aalen estimator

Test	Log-rank test

Applications

Biostatistics	Bioinformatics Clinical trials / studies Epidemiology Medical statistics

Engineering statistics	Chemometrics Methods engineering Probabilistic design Process / quality control Reliability System identification

Social statistics	Actuarial science Census Crime statistics Demography Econometrics National accounts Official statistics Population statistics Psychometrics

Spatial statistics	Cartography Environmental statistics Geographic information system Geostatistics Kriging

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Range (statistics)

Independent identically distributed continuous random variables

Distribution

Moments

Independent nonidentically distributed continuous random variables

Independent identically distributed discrete random variables

Distribution

Example

Related quantities

See also

References