Lecture 09 – Measures of Position, Relative Standing (Reference Section: §3 – 3)

In this section, we examine the set of data values as individual members instead of using a single
value to summarize the data set.

𝒛-SCORES

Definition A 𝑧-score (or standard score/standard value) for a given data value is the number of
standard deviations away from the mean it is.

Formula (𝒛-score)
𝑥 − 𝑥̅ 𝑥−𝜇
𝑧= OR 𝑧=
𝑠 𝜎
where 𝑥̅ is the sample mean
𝜇 is the population mean
𝑠 is the sample standard deviation and
𝜎 is the population standard deviation

Note: 𝒛-scores are traditionally rounded to two decimal places!

Recall, from our previous section, that a value within a set of data is significant if it is _____ or
more standard deviations away from the mean. This corresponds to a data value having a 𝑧-score
less than or equal to _____ or greater than or equal to _____.

Example 01
The mean temperature of a U.S. city on a given day is 89°F with a standard deviation of 1.3°F. In
2003, the temperature for that city was 91°F. Another city, on the same day, has a mean
temperature of 17°C and a standard deviation of 0.7°C. In 2003, its temperature was recorded as
15.9°C. Which value was more extreme?

Example 02
Using the same figures from our previous example, observe if City 1 recorded a temperature of
91.6°F, then this would be __________________________ since
91.6 − 89
𝑧= = 2.00
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Lecture 09 (§3 – 3) page 2 of 2

QUARTILES

Definition The 𝑛th percentile is the value in a set of data at or below which approximately 𝑛% of
the data falls.

Of notable mention are three special percentiles, viz. the 25th, 50th, and 75th, dividing the data
into four approximately equal groups:

Definition Quartiles are three measures of location, denoted 𝑄1 , 𝑄2 (median), and 𝑄3 , dividing
the data into four groups with about 25% of the data in each group.

Definition The 5-number summary of a set of data values is the following:

1. the minimum value;
2. 𝑄1, the first quartile;
3. the median (which is 𝑄2 , the second quartile);
4. 𝑄3 , the third quartile; and
5. the MAXimum value.

Example 03
(a) Find the 5-number summary for the following set of data, our previous set of data denoting the
age of POTUS at first inauguration:

42 43 46 46 47 47 48 49 49

50 51 51 51 51 51 52 52 54

54 54 54 54 55 55 55 56 56

56 57 57 57 57 58 60 61 61

61 62 64 64 65 68 69 70 78

(b) What are the 𝑧-scores of the youngest and oldest POTUS? Which is more extreme? Are any of
them statistically significant?