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Which measure of central tendency is the most representative of the data shown
in each frequency distribution?
a. Number Tally b. Number Tally c. Number Tally
1 7 1 9 1 6
2 20 2 8 2 1
3 15 3 7 3 2
4 11 4 6 4 3
5 8 5 5 5 5
6 3 6 6 6 5
7 2 7 7 7 4
8 0 8 8 8 3
9 15 9 9 9 0
Solution
a. For this data, the mean is 4.23, the median is 3, and the mode is 2. Of these,
the mode is probably the most representative.
b. For this data, the mean and median are each 5 and the modes are 1 and 9 (the
distribution is bimodal). Of these, the mean or median is the most represen-
tative.
c. For this data, the mean is 4.59, the median is 5, and the mode is 1. Of these,
the mean or median is the most representative.
Consider the three sets of data represented by the bar graphs in Figure A.4. Which
set has the smallest standard deviation? Which has the largest?
Se t A Set B Set C
5 5 5
4 4 4
3 3 3
2 2 2
1 1 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
FIGURE A.4
Solution
Of the three sets, the numbers in set A are grouped most closely to the center and
the numbers in set C are the most dispersed. So, set A has the smallest standard
deviation and set C has the largest standard deviation.
A8 Appendix A Concepts in Statistics
x x22 . . . xn2
2
1
x 2.
n
x x22 . . . x n2
2
1
x2
n
are equivalent. Try verifying this equivalence for the set x1, x2, x3 with
x x1 x2 x33.
Section A.2 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion A9
HI 22 OR 59 568
IA 115 PA 210 54.76
10
ID 42 RI 11
IL 198 SC 64 2.04
IN 111 SD 48 1.43.
KS 131 TN 121
You can use the statistical features of a graphing utility to check this result.
KY 105 TX 408
LA 122 UT 42
MA 79 VA 89
MD 49 VT 14 A well-known theorem in statistics, called Chebychev’s Theorem, states that
ME 37 WA 86 at least
MI 145 WI 123 1
1 2
MN 134 WV 58 k
MO 118 WY 23 of the numbers in a distribution must lie within k standard deviations of the mean.
MS 96 So, 75% of the numbers in a set must lie within two standard deviations of the
mean, and at least 88.9% of the numbers must lie within three standard deviations
of the mean. For most distributions, these percentages are low. For instance, in all
three distributions shown in Example 3, 100% of the numbers lie within two stan-
17 dard deviations of the mean.
16
15
14 Example 6 Describing a Distribution
13
12
The table at the left above shows the number of hospitals (in thousands) in each
Number of states
11
10 state and the District of Columbia in 1999. Find the mean and standard deviation
9 of the numbers. What percent of the numbers lie within two standard deviations
8 of the mean? (Source: Health Forum)
7
6 Solution
5
4
Begin by entering the numbers into a graphing utility that has a standard devia-
3 tion program. After running the program, you should obtain
2
1 x 97.18 and 81.99.
The interval that contains all numbers that lie within two standard deviations of
0 - 49
50 - 99
100 - 149
150 - 199
200 - 249
250 - 299
300 - 349
350 - 399
400 - 499
the mean is
97.18 281.99, 97.18 281.99 or 66.80, 261.16 .
Number of hospitals
(in thousands) From the histogram in Figure A.5, you can see that all but two of the numbers
(96%) lie in this interval—all but the numbers that correspond to the number of
FIGURE A.5 hospitals (in thousands) in California and Texas.
A10 Appendix A Concepts in Statistics
Box-and-Whisker Plots
Standard deviation is the measure of dispersion that is associated with the mean.
Quartiles measure dispersion associated with the median.
Definition of Quartiles
Consider an ordered set of numbers whose median is m. The lower quartile
is the median of the numbers that occur before m. The upper quartile is the
median of the numbers that occur after m.
The median of the entire set is 19. The median of the six numbers that are less
than 19 is 15. So, the lower quartile is 15. The median of the six numbers that are
greater than 19 is 25. So, the upper quartile is 25.
12 15 19 25 34
FIGURE A.6
The next example shows how to find quartiles when the number of elements
in a set is not divisible by 4.
Section A.2 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion A11
27 30 50 62 66
FIGURE A.7
b. This set has 13 numbers. The median is 90 (the seventh number). The lower
quartile is 84 (the median of the first six numbers). The upper quartile is 95.5
(the median of the last six numbers). See Figure A.8.
82 84 90 95.5 99
FIGURE A.8
c. This set has 10 numbers. The median is 17.5 (the average of the fifth and sixth
numbers). The lower quartile is 13 (the median of the first five numbers). The
upper quartile is 24 (the median of the last five numbers). See Figure A.9.
11 13 17.5 24 27
FIGURE A.9
A.2 Exercises
In Exercises 1–6, find the mean, median, and mode of the 7. Reasoning Compare your answers for Exercises 1
set of measurements. and 3 with those for Exercises 2 and 4. Which of the
1. 5, 12, 7, 14, 8, 9, 7 measures of central tendency is sensitive to extreme
measurements? Explain your reasoning.
2. 30, 37, 32, 39, 33, 34, 32
8. Reasoning
3. 5, 12, 7, 24, 8, 9, 7
(a) Add 6 to each measurement in Exercise 1 and
4. 20, 37, 32, 39, 33, 34, 32 calculate the mean, median, and mode of the
5. 5, 12, 7, 14, 9, 7 revised measurements. How are the measures of
6. 30, 37, 32, 39, 34, 32 central tendency changed?
(b) If a constant k is added to each measurement in a
set of data, how will the measures of central
tendency change?
A12 Appendix A Concepts in Statistics
9. Electric Bills A person had the following monthly 15. Test Scores A professor records the following
bills for electricity. What are the mean and median of scores for a 100-point exam.
the collection of bills? 99, 64, 80, 77, 59, 72, 87, 79, 92, 88,
January $67.92 February $59.84 90, 42, 20, 89, 42, 100, 98, 84, 78, 91
March $52.00 April $52.50 Which measure of central tendency best describes
May $57.99 June $65.35 these test scores?
July $81.76 August $74.98 16. Shoe Sales A salesman sold eight pairs of men’s
black dress shoes. The sizes of the eight pairs were
September $87.82 October $83.18
as follows: 1012, 8, 12, 1012, 10, 912, 11, and 1012.
November $65.35 December $57.00 Which measure (or measures) of central tendency
10. Car Rental A car rental company kept the follow- best describes the typical shoe size for this data?
ing record of the numbers of miles a rental car was
driven. What are the mean, median, and mode of this In Exercises 17–24, find the mean
x , variance
v, and
data? standard deviation
of the set.
Monday 410 Tuesday 260 17. 4, 10, 8, 2
Wednesday 320 Thursday 320 18. 3, 15, 6, 9, 2
Friday 460 Saturday 150 19. 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4
11. Six-Child Families A study was done on families 20. 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
having six children. The table shows the numbers of 21. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
families in the study with the indicated numbers of
girls. Determine the mean, median, and mode of this 22. 1, 1, 1, 5, 5, 5
set of data. 23. 49, 62, 40, 29, 32, 70
24. 1.5, 0.4, 2.1, 0.7, 0.8
Number of girls 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Frequency 1 24 45 54 50 19 7 In Exercises 25–30, use the alternative formula to find the
standard deviation of the set.
12. Sports A baseball fan examined the records of a 25. 2, 4, 6, 6, 13, 5
favorite baseball player’s performance during his last 26. 10, 25, 50, 26, 15, 33, 29, 4
50 games. The numbers of games in which the play-
27. 246, 336, 473, 167, 219, 359
er had 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 hits are recorded in the table.
28. 6.0, 9.1, 4.4, 8.7, 10.4
Number of hits 0 1 2 3 4 29. 8.1, 6.9, 3.7, 4.2, 6.1
Frequency 14 26 7 2 1 30. 9.0, 7.5, 3.3, 7.4, 6.0
(a) Determine the average number of hits per game. In Exercises 31 and 32, line plots of sets of data are given.
Determine the mean and standard deviation of each set.
(b) Determine the player’s batting average if he had
200 at-bats during the 50-game series. 31. (a) × ×
× × × ×
13. Think About It Construct a collection of numbers 8 10 12 14 16
that has the following properties. If this is not possi-
ble, explain why it is not. (b) × ×
× × × ×
Mean 6, median 4, mode 4 16 18 20 22 24
14. Think About It Construct a collection of numbers
that has the following properties. If this is not possi- (c) × ×
× × × ×
ble, explain why it is not.
8 10 12 14 16
Mean 6, median 6, mode 4
(d) × ×
× × × ×
4 6 8 10 12
Section A.2 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion A13
Frequency
4 4
54.0 23.2 45.5 24.8 87.8
3 3
2 2
1 1
86 90 94 98 84 88 92 96
Score Score