STATISTICS 8

MEASURES OF
LOCATION
OBJECTIVE
To identify the location of a data
value in a data set, using various
measures of position, such as
standard scores, percentiles,
and quartiles
Measures of Location
These are measures used to locate the
relative location of a data value in the
data set.
❑STANDARD SCORES
❑PERCENTILES
❑QUARTILES
STANDARD SCORES
Suppose that a student scored 90 on
a music test and 45 on an English
exam.
In which test did the student scored
better?
STANDARD SCORES
NOTE:
Direct comparison of the raw scores
is impossible, since the exams might
not be equivalent in terms of
number of questions, points for each
question, and so on.
HOW CAN WE COMPARE THE
TWO SCORES?
STANDARD SCORES
A comparison of a relative standard
similar to both can be made.

This comparison uses the mean and

standard deviation and is called a
standard score or z score.
STANDARD SCORES
Standard scores are used to compare
the relative location of two data values
with different units.

Another term for standard score is z-

score
STANDARD SCORES
A z score or standard score for a value is obtained
by subtracting the mean from the value and
dividing the result by the standard deviation.
The symbol for a standard score is z.
𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛
𝑧=
𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ
𝑧=
𝑠
STANDARD SCORES
A student scored 65 on a calculus test that had a
mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10; she
scored 30 on a history test with a mean of 25 and a
standard deviation of 5. Compare her relative
positions on the two tests.
Step 1: Find the z-scores for each subject.
Step 2: Compare the obtained z-scores.
STANDARD SCORES
Given:
Calculus History
Score: 65 Score: 30
Mean:50 Mean: 25
Standard Deviation: 10 Standard deviation: 5
Z-score: Z-score:

𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ 65 − 50 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ 30 − 25
𝑧= = = 1.5 𝑧= = = 1.0
𝑠 10 𝑠 5

Conclusion: Since the z score for calculus is larger, her

relative position in the calculus class is higher than her
relative position in the history class.
STANDARD SCORES
Note:
If the z score is positive, the score is
above the mean. If the z score is 0, the
score is the same as the mean. And if
the z score is negative, the score is
below the mean.
z-score (positive) ABOVE THE MEAN
z-score (negative) BELOW THE MEAN
z-score is zero SAME AS THE MEAN
Calculus History
Score: 65 Score: 30
Mean: 50 Mean: 25
Standard deviation: 10 Standard deviation: 5
Z-score: 1.5 Z-score: 1.0
The z-score is positive so The z-score is positive so
the score is indeed above the score is indeed above
the mean. the mean.
STANDARD SCORES
Find the z-score for each test and state
which is higher.

Test A 𝑋 = 38 𝑥ҧ = 40 𝑠 = 5
Test B 𝑋 = 94 𝑥ҧ = 100 𝑠 = 10
STANDARD SCORES
Test A 𝑋 = 38 𝑥ҧ = 40 𝑠=5
Test B 𝑋 = 94 𝑥ҧ = 100 𝑠 = 10
Test A History
Z-score: Z-score:

𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ 38 − 40 𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ 94 − 100
𝑧= = = −0.4 𝑧= =
𝑠 5 𝑠 10
= −0.6

The score for Test A is relatively higher than the

score for Test B.
The scores of ten students in a Statistics
summative test are as follows:
50, 48, 32, 23, 12, 8, 22, 35, 39, 45
The scores of ten students in a Mathematics
summative test are as follows:
46, 47, 28, 18, 50, 34, 38, 44, 46, 37
If you got perfect scores in both subjects, which
test score is relatively higher? (show the z-
scores of each)
PERCENTILES
•measures used to indicate the
position of an individual in a group.
•EXAMPLE:
Your score in Statistics exam is 90 th
percentile. This means you did better
than 90% of all students who took the
exam.
PERCENTILES vs. PERCENTAGES
•Percentiles are not the same as
percentages.
• If a student gets 78 correct answers out
of a possible 100, she obtains a
percentage score of 78. There is no
indication of her position with respect to
the rest of the class.
PERCENTILES
•Symbols: 𝑃1 , 𝑃2 , ⋯ 𝑃99
•Percentilesdivide the data set into
100 equal parts.
 PERCENTILE FORMULA
•Thepercentile corresponding to a given
value (raw score) X is computed by
using:
𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑋 + 0.5
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 = ∙ 100
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠
EXAMPLE:
A teacher gives a 20-point test to 10
students. The scores are shown here.
Find the percentile rank of a score of
12.
18, 15, 12, 6, 8, 2, 3, 5, 20, 10
EXAMPLE:
18, 15, 12, 6, 8, 2, 3, 5, 20, 10
Step 1: Arrange data from lowest to
highest
2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20
 EXAMPLE:
Step 2: Substitute into the formula

𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑋 + 0.5

𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 = ∙ 100
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠
6 + 0.5
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 = ∙ 100 = 65𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒
10
A student whose score was 12 did better than 65% of the
class.
EXAMPLE:
Using the same example, get the
percentile rank for the score of 6.

18, 15, 12, 6, 8, 2, 3, 5, 20, 10

EXAMPLE:
18, 15, 12, 6, 8, 2, 3, 5, 20, 10
Step 1: Arrange data from lowest to
highest
2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20
 EXAMPLE:
Step 2: Substitute into the formula

𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑋 + 0.5

𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 = ∙ 100
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠
3 + 0.5
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 = ∙ 100 = 35𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒
10
A student whose score was 6 did better than 35% of the
class.
Find the percentile rank of 18.
Find the percentile rank of 15.
Find the percentile rank of 8.
18, 15, 12, 6, 8, 2, 3, 5, 20, 10
Given the following test scores,
find the percentile rank for
scores of 12 and 50. Interpret
each percentile.
12, 28, 35, 42, 47, 49, 50
Finding a data value
corresponding to a given
percentile
18, 15, 12, 6, 8, 2, 3, 5, 20, 10
Using the given scores, find the value
corresponding to the 25th percentile.
 18, 15, 12, 6, 8, 2, 3, 5, 20, 10
Using the given scores, find the value
corresponding to the 25th percentile.
Step 1: Arrange from lowest to highest
2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20
Find the value corresponding to the
25th percentile.
2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20
Step 2: Compute for c.
𝑛∙𝑝
𝑐= where
100
𝑛 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠
𝑝 = 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒
Find the value corresponding to the
25th percentile.
2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20
Step 2: Compute for c.
𝑛∙𝑝 10∙25
𝑐= 𝑐= = 𝟐. 𝟓
100 100
𝑛 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠
𝑝 = 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒
 10 ∙ 25
𝑐= = 𝟐. 𝟓
100
Step 3:
If c is not a whole number, round it up to the
next whole number; in this case, 𝑐 = 3.
Start at the lowest value and count over to
the third value, which is 5. Hence, the value 5
corresponds to the 25th percentile.
2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20
 804 736 659 489 777 623 597 524 228
Give the value corresponding to the following
percentiles:
th
1. 65 percentile
2. 80th percentile
th
3. 20 percentile
4. 40th percentile
5. 98th percentile
Case when c is a whole number
If c is a whole number, use the value
halfway between the 𝑐𝑡ℎ and 𝑐 + 1 𝑠𝑡
values when counting up from the
lowest value.
Ex: 𝑐 = 2. The answer is the number
halfway between the 2𝑛𝑑 and (2 + 1) =
𝑟𝑑
3 number
EXAMPLE
Find the value that corresponds to
th
the 60 percentile.

18, 15, 12, 6, 8, 2, 3, 5, 20, 10

EXAMPLE
Step 1: Arrange from lowest to highest
2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20
Step 2: Substitute in the formula
𝑛 ∙ 𝑝 10 ∙ 60
𝑐= = =6
100 100
EXAMPLE
Step 3: If c is a whole number, use the
value halfway between the 𝑐 and (𝑐 +
1) values when counting up from the
lowest value—in this case, the 6th and
7th values since 𝑐 = 6 and 𝑐 + 1 = 7
2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20
EXAMPLE
2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20

The value halfway between 10 and 12 is 11. Find it by

adding the two values and dividing by 2.
10 + 12
= 11
2
Hence, 11 corresponds to the 60th percentile. Anyone
scoring 11 would have done better than 60% of the
class.
EXAMPLE
2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20
What values correspond to the
following percentiles?
th th
1. 80 percentile 4. 70 percentile
th th
2. 10 percentile 5. 30 percentile
th
3. 90 percentile
 5, 7, 9, 11, 13,
What values correspond to the
following percentiles?
th th
1. 20 percentile 4. 80 percentile
2. 60th percentile
th
3. 40 percentile