200032 

STATISTICS FOR BUSINESS

Question 1
A shop owner wishes to examine the time a customer spends in her
store. She selects a random sample of 10 customers and records the
time each one spent in the store.

The times, in minutes, are as follows.

17 27 24 19 9
27 21 10 15 11

For this sample,

(a) Find the mean time.
(b) Find the median time.
(c) Calculate the range of times.
(d) Determine the standard deviation of the times.
(e) Calculate the coefficient of variation for the sample.
(f) Determine the inter‐quartile range.
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1
 Question 1 (a) and (b)
n

x i
17  27  24  19  9  27  21  10  15  11 180
(a) Mean = i 1
   18 minutes.
n 10 10

(b) Median: First we must sort the data in order.

9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 27, 27

1 1
(n  1) (10 1)
Now the median will be the                term =                = 5.5th term.
2 2
Median = (5th + 6th term)/2 = (17 + 19)/2 = 18 minutes.

Question 1
A shop owner wishes to examine the time a customer spends in her
store. She selects a random sample of 10 customers and records the
time each one spent in the store.

The times, in minutes, are as follows.

17 27 24 19 9
27 21 10 15 11

For this sample,

(a) Find the mean time.
(b) Find the median time.
(c) Calculate the range of times.
(d) Determine the standard deviation of the times.
(e) Calculate the coefficient of variation for the sample..
(f) Determine the inter‐quartile range.
4

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 Question 1 (c), (d) and (e)

(c) Range = Max – Min.

9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 27, 27

Range = 27 – 9 = 18 minutes.

(d) Standard deviation: We need x2.

x2 = 9² + 10² + 11² + 15² + 17² + 19² + 21² + 24² + 27² + 27² = 3652.

s=
x 2
 n( x) 2

3652  10(18) 2
 6.766
n 1 10  1

s 6.766
(e) Coefficient of Variation C.V    0.376  37.6% 5
x 18

Question 1
A shop owner wishes to examine the time a customer spends in her
store. She selects a random sample of 10 customers and records the
time each one spent in the store.

The times, in minutes, are as follows.

17 27 24 19 9
27 21 10 15 11

For this sample,

(a) Find the mean time.
(b) Find the median time.
(c) Calculate the range of times.
(d) Determine the standard deviation of the times.
(e) Calculate the coefficient of variation for the sample.
(f) Determine the inter‐quartile range.
6

3
 Question 1(f)
(f) First we must sort the data in order.

9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 27, 27

Now Q1 will be the ¼ (n + 1) term = ¼ (10 + 1) = 2.75th term.

Hence three‐quarters (0.75) of the way between the 2nd and the 
3rd term.

The 2nd term is 10, and the 3rd term is 11.

So Q1 = 10 + 0.75 x (11 – 10) = 10 + 0.75 x 1 = 10 + 0.75 = 10.75.

Question 1(f)
9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 27, 27

Now Q3 will be the ¾ (n + 1) term = ¾ (10 + 1) = 8.25th term.

Hence one‐quarter (0.25) between the 8th and 9th term. 

The 8th term is 24, and the 9th term is 27.

So Q3 = 24 + 0.25 x (27 – 24) = 24 + 0.25 x 3 = 24 + 0.75 = 24.75.

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 Question 1(f)

We know

Q1 = 10.75
Q3 = 24.75

Hence the inter‐quartile range is

IQR  =  Q3 – Q1 =  24.75 – 10.75  =  14 minutes.

Question 2
The shop owner now employs a company to take a larger sample.
The company selects a random 4 week period and records the time
each customer spent in the store. They summarise the sample in
the following frequency distribution table.

Time Frequency
[0,10) 38
[10,20) 86
[20,30) 41
[30,40) 20
[40,50) 15
Total 200

For this sample,
(a) Find the approximate mean time.
(b) Approximate the standard deviation of the times.
(c) Calculate the coefficient of variation for the sample. 10

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 Question 2
Time Frequency m mf m²f
[0,10) 38 5 190 950
[10,20) 86 15 1290 19350
[20,30) 41 25 1025 25625
[30,40) 20 35 700 24500
[40,50) 15 45 675 30375
Total 200 3880 100800

∑
(a) Mean =  19.4 minutes.

∑ ̅ . ²
(b) Standard deviation 𝑠 11.326 minutes.

(c) Coefficient of Variation =  s/𝑥̅ = 11.326/19.4 = 0.584 = 58.4%.

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