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pythonstatisticsstatsmodelsstandard-deviationweighted

Python: Weighted coefficient of variation


How can I calculate the weighted coefficient of variation (CV) over a NumPy array in Python? It's okay to use any popular third-party Python package for this purpose.

I can calculate the CV using scipy.stats.variation, but it's not weighted.

import numpy as np
from scipy.stats import variation

arr = np.arange(-5, 5)
weights = np.arange(9, -1, -1)  # Same size as arr
cv = abs(variation(arr))  # Isn't weighted

Solution

  • This can be done using the statsmodels.stats.weightstats.DescrStatsW class in the statsmodels package for calculating weighted statistics.

    from statsmodels.stats.weightstats import DescrStatsW
    
    arr = np.arange(-5, 5)
    weights = np.arange(9, -1, -1)  # Same size as arr
    
    dsw = DescrStatsW(arr, weights)
    cv = dsw.std / abs(dsw.mean)  # weighted std / abs of weighted mean
    
    print(cv)
    1.6583123951777001
    

    For a related statistic, i.e. the weighted gini, see this answer.


    Credit: This answer is motivated by one on calculating the weighted standard deviation.