What is the statistical term for the difference between the highest and lowest score in a dataset?

The statistical term for the difference between the highest and lowest score in a dataset is known as the range. The range provides a simple measure of variability within the dataset, highlighting how spread out the values are by calculating the gap between the largest and smallest observations. It is particularly useful for understanding the overall extent of data distribution.

The mean, or average, adds together all the values and divides by the number of scores, giving insight into the central tendency of the dataset but not addressing variability. The median represents the middle score when all numbers are arranged in order, offering another measure of central tendency that is less affected by extreme values compared to the mean. Variance measures how much the scores differ from the mean, focusing more on the overall spread of values rather than just the extremes. Therefore, the range is the most direct answer to the question asked, as it specifically quantifies the difference between the highest and lowest scores.