Home > Statistics Every Writer Should Know > The Stats Board > Discusssion
Coefficient of Variation
Message posted by Christina (via 138.238.2.26) on May 29, 2001 at 6:17 PM (ET)
When the CV is below 20%, what does this tell me about my data?
READERS RESPOND:
(In chronological order. Most recent at the bottom.)
Re: Coefficient of Variation
Message posted by Jack Tomsky (via 208.249.113.130) on May 30, 2001 at 12:44 PM (ET)
The standard deviation is less than one-fifth of the mean.
Re: Coefficient of Variation
Message posted by JG (via 209.166.29.54) on June 3, 2001 at 9:51 AM (ET)
20% has no special meaning and we are assuming that this variable is always positive. A small CV simply means that the data in not very viable. Also, since CV is dimensionless, it is easy to compare variables.
Re: Coefficient of Variation
Message posted by JG (via 128.8.22.17) on June 16, 2001 at 5:52 AM (ET)
I meant to say that a small CV means that the data is not very variable - has a small variability in comparison with the mean .
Your $5 contribution helps cover part the $500 annual cost of keeping this site online.