1. Descriptive Statistics: Measures of Variability
Interquartile Range Rule for Identifying Outliers
A common method for identifying outliers is the Interquartile Range Rule.
Interquartile Range Rule
According to the Interquartile Range Rule, a score is considered an outlier if:
- The score lies more than below the first quartile:
- The score lies more than above the third quartile:
Based on the Interquartile Range Rule, how many outliers are there in the sample?
To calculate the interquartile range, first sort the values in ascending order:
Next, calculate the first quartile. To find the index of the first quartile (), use the following formula:
Since is an integer, the first quartile is the score located at the position of the ordered data:
Next, calculate the third quartile. To find the index of the third quartile (), use the following formula:
Since is an integer, the third quartile is the score located at the position of the ordered data:
Calculate the interquartile range:
According to the Interquartile Range Rule, a score is considered an outlier if:
- The score lies more than below the first quartile:
- The score lies more than above the third quartile:
This means that any score or should be considered an outlier, of which there is in the sample, namely: .