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Percentiles are often used in education and health-related fields. For example, they are often found in test
scores, height, and weight. Percentiles are NOT the same as Percentages.
P1 = 1st percentile
P10 = 10th percentile
P50 = 50th percentile = the median
To find the position number in a data set, use this formula: Px = x(n+1)/100
Quartiles are positional measures that divide a set of data into 4 equal parts.
Deciles are positional measures that divide a set of data into 10 equal parts.
Example
Many people consider the number of calories in an ice-cream bar as important as cost when deciding which
product to buy. The following data lists the number of calories in 22 manufactures fudge-flavored ice-cream
bars. Note that the bars varied in size and, thus, some of the smaller bars had fewer calories.
Discuss the answers the following questions in groups of three or four and be prepared to share them with the
class:
1) Imagine Dr. Jones gave you back your test and instead of writing your score, he wrote your z-
score. What type of z-score would you want to see? What does a positive z-score mean? What does a
negative z-score mean? What does a z-score of zero mean?
2) What if we measured everyone in class and assigned everyone a z-score based on their height? What
type of z-score would you prefer? What would the worst possible z-score be? What would that look
like?
Deviation just means how far from the normal. To figure out standard deviation for List 1: 2, 3, 5, 1, 4, follow
these easy steps and please show your work:
(mean = 3) 2-3=-11 3-3=00 5-3=24 1-3=-24 4-3=11 1+0+4+4+1=10/5=2 square root of 2=1.414
To figure out standard deviation from your calculator, follow these steps:
Standard deviation can be calculated using several methods on the TI-83 family and TI-84 Plus family graphing
calculators. Standard deviation can be calculated by using the stdDev() function.
Press [2nd][LIST]
Scroll to MATH and select 7:stdDev(
Follow the example listed below to calculate standard deviation of one list of data: