The Range (Statistics)

The Range is the difference between the lowest and highest values.

Example: In {4, 6, 9, 3, 7} the lowest value is 3, and the highest is 9.

So the range is 9 − 3 = 6.

Range 3 to 9 is 6

It is that simple!

But perhaps too simple ...

The Range Can Be Misleading

The range can sometimes be misleading when there are extremely high or low values.

Example: In {8, 11, 5, 9, 7, 6, 3616}:

  • the lowest value is 5,
  • and the highest is 3616,

So the range is 3616 − 5 = 3611.

The single value of 3616 makes the range large, but most values are around 10.

So we may be better off using Interquartile Range or Standard Deviation.

 

range domain graph

Range of a Function

Range can also mean all the output values of a function, see Domain, Range and Codomain.


696, 740, 1468, 1469, 2159, 2160, 3064, 3065, 3798, 3799
Domain, Range and Codomain Data Index