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The range in R refers to the difference between the highest and lowest values in a dataset. It is calculated by subtracting the lowest value from the highest value. For example, if a dataset consists of the numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10, the range would be 10 – 2 = 8. In R, the range can also be calculated using the “range()” function, which returns a vector containing the minimum and maximum values in the dataset. This value is useful for understanding the spread of data and identifying any outliers.
Find the Range in R (With Examples)
The range is the difference between the largest and the smallest value in a dataset.
We can use the following syntax to find the range of a dataset in R:
data <- c(1, 3, NA, 5, 16, 18, 22, 25, 29) #calculate range max(data, na.rm=TRUE) - min(data, na.rm=TRUE) [1] 28
And we can use the range() function in base R to display the smallest and largest values in the dataset:
data <- c(1, 3, NA, 5, 16, 18, 22, 25, 29) #calculate range values range(data, na.rm=TRUE) [1] 1 29
This tutorial shows several examples of how to calculate the range of datasets in R.
Related:Measures of Dispersion in Statistics
Example 1: Calculate the Range of a Single Variable
The following code shows how to calculate the range of a single variable in R:
#create data frame df <- data.frame(x=c(1, 3, NA, 5, 16, 18, 22, 25), y=c(NA, 4, 8, 9, 14, 23, 29, 31), z=c(2, NA, 9, 4, 13, 17, 22, 24)) #find range of variable x in the data frame max(df$x, na.rm=TRUE) - min(df$x, na.rm=TRUE) [1] 24
Example 2: Calculate the Range of Multiple Variables
The following code shows how to calculate the range of multiple variables in R:
#create data frame df <- data.frame(x=c(1, 3, NA, 5, 16, 18, 22, 25), y=c(NA, 4, 8, 9, 14, 23, 29, 31), z=c(2, NA, 9, 4, 13, 17, 22, 24)) #find range of variable x and y in the data frame sapply(df[c('x','y')], function(df) max(df, na.rm=TRUE) - min(df, na.rm=TRUE)) x y 24 27 #find range of all variables in the data frame sapply(df, function(df) max(df, na.rm=TRUE) - min(df, na.rm=TRUE)) x y z 24 27 22
RelatedA Guide to apply(), lapply(), sapply(), and tapply() in R
Example 3: Calculate the Range of Entire Data Frame
The following code shows how to calculate the range of all values in a data frame:
#create data frame df <- data.frame(x=c(1, 3, NA, 5, 16, 18, 22, 25), y=c(NA, 4, 8, 9, 14, 23, 29, 31), z=c(2, NA, 9, 4, 13, 17, 22, 24)) #find range of all values in entire data frame max(df, na.rm=TRUE) - min(df, na.rm=TRUE) [1] 30
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in R: