Math 1010 Project Reflection

For this project I was to provide the math needed to show how many reviews are needed

to change to average review score. During the project, I explored different formulas and how to

change them to work for what we need. I first started by finding the average using the longhand

method of adding all the values and then dividing by the number of values. As well comparing

the difference of value sets that had wide ranges, narrow ranges, and sets of values that were the

same except for one or two numbers. After I explored the use of frequency tables and how they

can be used to speed up the process of finding the average. To find the answer to the how many

reviews are needed to change the average, I changed a given formula to help me calculate how

many reviews would be needed to get the new average. By solving for certain a variable, I was

able to get a new formula that could then be used to find the number of reviews.

Do you think this project shows how math can be applied to the real world? I think that

this project does show how math can be used to real world problems. As we live in a very

technology driven environment where data is king, math is the language to understand the data

and how we can use it. This project shows in a small way how we can automate and speed up

answers to problems. As in this case we used algebra to formulate a formula that can be used and

applied to different problems and help find a solution.

Can you think of or find an example of a different application where many variables are

used as inputs to determine an outcome? Sales is an area that we see variables used as inputs. As

each different product is a variable and it can be tracked in a linear fashion giving the one output.

So we can track sales using simple algebraic equations, that can help a business understand the

different sales and the impact they are having.

 If you were a small business manager as described in the project, how important is it to

understand how your online rating is affected by new reviews? To me it is very important, as one

bad review out of a set of near perfect reviews can have a drastic impact on your review score.

To me then I would be doing everything I could to get good reviews to help bolster the score to

prevent drastic drops from a few bad reviews.

Did this assignment change your opinion of the usefulness of math? I wouldn’t say that it

changed my opinion much. As I have already seen how useful math is in the world. To me this

project showed how to develop formulas to answer problems that seem hard to handle. Showing

how math can have a big effect on a business. With reviews being mathematically based and this

would need a mathematical solution to understand it. I saw how understanding averages can help

one understand the world of reviews. As in this project I saw in the beginning in problem 4 how

just one number can affect an average. To me this project showed that we can’t always trust

certain numbers and math can show us how we can and cannot trust them. Math is a tool and a

language that can help us understand the world. As such, this project reaffirmed my view on the

usefulness of math.
A Review of Averaging Formulas
Math 1010 Intermediate Algebra Group Project

The Story:
Alyssa works for an online company that helps thousands of small business owners across the
country to advertise themselves and find customers in need of their services.
After the job is completed, Alyssa’s company encourages the customers to review the business
on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. This review is saved within Alyssa’s database so that future customers
can see the average number of stars a business has received on the online service. That way the
customers can find the best rated person for the job.
Alyssa found that many business owners had questions about how they could improve their
rating. One common question was: “How many 5-star reviews in a row do I need to improve
my rating from where I’m at to a 4.5?” Or a 4.2? Or whatever threshold they were interested
in? Rather than having to work this out from scratch in every scenario, it is more efficient to
create a formula so the answer can be found quickly and efficiently.
We will start out with some simpler questions to become familiar with the situation and how
averages work. By the end of this project, you will be able to efficiently answer the question
above for ANY starting situation. You will use skills you learned about solving formulas for a
particular variable and working with rational expressions. Along the way, you will try to put
yourself in Alyssa’s shoes and answer each question as if to an interested business manager.

AVERAGES
We will be exploring how basic averages work in this section. This Average is also called the
Mean, or Arithmetic Mean.
1. Write a formula which can find the average of the two numbers X and Y.

AVERAGE =
It
2. Use your formula to find the average of 16 and 34. Show your process.

AVERAGE =
1621 521 250
3. Find the average of the six numbers 4, 6, 7, 12, 14, and 17. Show your process.
AVERAGE = 476
7611
12714 I D
 4. Find the average of the six numbers 0, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12. Show your process.
AVERAGE = o RtRrth G 10

5. Compare the averages you found in Parts (3) and (4). Which “average” seems like a
better middle number? Why do you think that?
of
Averagefor 3 as it narrowed down a wide range
numbers Whilstnumber4 was consistentexcept for one
number

FREQUENCY TABLES
Often very large data sets are averaged. The data sets include many numbers which are the
same. A Frequency Table describes how many of each number are included in the set. Examine
the following table as an example:
Number Frequency
1 2
2 4
3 3

The table explains the data set 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3. (two 1s, four 2s, three 3s)
6. Find the average of the nine numbers above. Show your process. Round your answer to
puttin the nearest hundredth.
CN F total frequency
12
31
41
ÉÉ ÉÉÉan
2
891
199 2.110
When the data set becomes too large, it becomes too tedious to add all of the numbers one by
one. We need a different strategy. Examine the next frequency table, which shows the number
of reviews a particular business owner has received of each number of stars.
Stars Frequency
1 21
2 11
3 12
4 46
5 60

7. Determine how many total reviews this business has received. Show your process.

21 t 11 12 46 60 150

aint
8. Rather than add up all of those numbers one at a time, we will add them in groups. As an
example, if we add up all twelve of the 3s, we should use multiplication (since it
represents adding the same number repeatedly). All of the 3s sum to 3 times 12 which is
36. In the following blanks, similarly write the sum of all numbers of each type.

21
Sum of 1s __________

22
Sum of 2s __________

Sum of 3s ___36___

184
Sum of 4s __________

300
Sum of 5s __________

9. Use your results from the previous two parts to find the average number of stars the
business has received. Show your process. Round your answer to the nearest hundredth.

21 301 184
227,38
3 75
 ONE MORE NUMBER
Next, we will need to explore what happens to an average if we add one more number. Recall
that your GPA is a number between 0 and 4 which is an average of all of your individual class
GPA scores (each of which is a number between 0 and 4).
10. Suppose your current GPA is 2.9, after taking 10 classes. What is the SUM of the GPA
scores of all of your courses? (The answer will be greater than 4. Show your work!)
EEEE.IE
average
2 2 acox 29

290
11. Suppose you achieve an A in your next class, which is worth 4 GPA points. What is the
new SUM of all of your GPA scores? (Answer should be greater than 4)

29 4 33

12. What is your new GPA AVERAGE accounting for all 11 classes? (Should be between
0 and 4, round to the nearest hundredth and show your work!)

GPA 3
33 3

MANY MORE REVIEWS

13. Suppose a business has a current average review of 3.2 stars. This is from 30 customer
reviews. Using a similar process to the previous three questions, find the new average
review for the business after four new 5-star reviews. Show your process and round your
answer to the nearest hundredth.
96 stars 4 5stauchestars
total 3.21307 4 96 4 5 20 stars

7L 96 70 116stars 14 3.41
Reviews 30 4 34 review

341st
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Suppose a business currently has an average rating of R stars. This average is calculated from N
current reviews.
14. The following formula will give the new average rating A that the business will have
after receiving X new reviews in a row, all of them 5-star reviews. Use the formula and
the given variables to re-do the calculation from Part 13 (you should get the same
answer).

𝐴𝐴 =
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 + 5𝑋𝑋
𝑁𝑁 + 𝑋𝑋
I 3
x 4
30E.IE I 3.41

15. If a business wants to know how many 5-star reviews in a row are needed to achieve a
desired new rating, the formula in the previous part must be solved for X. Solve your
formula in the previous part for X, and show your process. Do not plug in anything for
any of the variables – they should remain as letters all the way until your final equation.

CH A NR F near

ATX N Rt SX
X
IRIX

AI
AX

N
RIA
AN
N
o
SA REE
SHAK I N R AN
 Let’s put our new formula from Part (15) into action! Kevin’s Tree Service is a small business
that currently has individual reviews given in the table below:
Stars Frequency
1 4
2 1
3 10
4 11
5 18

16. First calculate the current average review for Kevin’s Tree Service. Show your process.
Write your final answer both as a fraction and as a decimal rounded to the nearest
hundredth.

441 3.86
4,111 54 1 11 4
II
1 2 44 90

FRACTION =
9 3.86AVERAGE

DECIMAL =

17. Now calculate how many 5-star reviews in a row are needed for Kevin’s Tree Service to
achieve an average review of 4.5. First, take a guess before doing any calculations.
Then, use your formula from Part (15) to find the real value. Make sure to use the
FRACTION answer from Part (16) or you may end up with rounding errors!
Ayyavaragawanted
GUESS = 26
N 44 SIETEviews
a a

56
r
equation

REVIEWS NEEDED =
56
REFLECTION
18. Did this project change the way you think about how math can be applied in the real
world? Did you expect Kevin’s Tree Service to need that many 5-star reviews to reach
its goal? Does what you learned here change how you think about the way ratings are
used in the real world? Can you think of a way that averages might be used in your own
field of study? Write at least two paragraphs addressing the above questions. Refer to
specific parts of this project to help explain your thoughts.

This project did help me understand how programming works and how
automation happens in the tech world. I think this project showed more
how math is the baseline to a lot of our decisions. Those being using
the stars and numbers to try and objectify our feelings by giving that
score. Then using math to find out how we can improve those ratings
and automate finding those ratings by using a formula. It was
interesting.

            I did expect a fair number of reviews, but I didn’t expect that
many. I was off by 30 reviews. I think that it did then change my views
on ratings and that how a few bad reviews can really bring down an
average. As well reviews can be very inaccurate if showing the average.
Seeing problems 3 and 4 showed this well. With four having 5 out of
the 6 numbers being the same and just the one zero brought down the
average. As well seeing the average of 3 it was a wide spread of
numbers, and the average doesn’t show much there as there were
such a great range. I think that this will help my future studies by just
reminding me that not everything is as it seems. An average or really
anything is just a small piece of a bigger picture.