Statistics Toolbox

range

Sample range

Syntax

• y = range(X)
  

Description

range(X) returns the difference between the maximum and the minimum of a sample. For vectors, range(x) is the range of the elements. For matrices, range(X) is a row vector containing the range of each column of X.

The range is an easily calculated estimate of the spread of a sample. Outliers have an undue influence on this statistic, which makes it an unreliable estimator.

Example

The range of a large sample of standard normal random numbers is approximately six. This is the motivation for the process capability indices C_p and C_pk in statistical quality control applications.

• rv = normrnd(0,1,1000,5);
  near6 = range(rv)
  near6 =
      6.1451    6.4986    6.2909    5.8894    7.0002
  

See Also
std, iqr, mad

randtool

ranksum