What is the measurement of dispersion of data or a variable called?

The measurement of dispersion of data or a variable is referred to as standard deviation. Standard deviation quantifies how much the values in a dataset vary from the mean (average) of that dataset. A low standard deviation indicates that the data points tend to be close to the mean, while a high standard deviation indicates that the data points are spread out over a wider range of values.

Understanding the dispersion of data is crucial in various fields, including statistics and operations management, because it helps to gauge the consistency and reliability of the data. In production and inventory management, for instance, recognizing the variability in demand or production cycles aids in making more accurate forecasts and inventory decisions.

The other options provided relate to central tendency measures rather than dispersion. The mean represents the average of the dataset, and the median is the middle value when the data is ordered. The range denotes the difference between the highest and lowest values in a dataset but does not provide information about the spread of the data points around the mean, which is what standard deviation is designed to measure.