CV (Coefficient of Variability)

Coefficient of Variability – (CV) A ratio of a data set’s standard deviation to its average.

• Standard deviation communicates how far a data point lies from the average. Standard deviation is a measure of absolute dispersion of data points, CV is a measure of data point dispersion relative to the average.
• CV is often used to describe variation across multiple sets of data, as it can accommodate for differing averages.
• Lower CV values (usually presented as percentage values) indicate low variability (higher precision) in data.