MEASURES OF POSITION FOR UNGROUPED DATA

Measure of position is a measure by which the position of a data is determined through its value.

The Quartile for Ungrouped Data

The quartiles are the score points which divide a distribution into four equal parts. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the
distribution are below the first quartile, fifty percent (50%) are below the second quartile, and seventy-five percent
(75%) are below the third quartile. Q1 is called the lower quartile and Q3 is the upper quartile. Q1 < Q2 < Q3 , where
Q2 is nothing but the median.

a. 25% of the data has a value ≤ Q1

b. 50% of the data has a value ≤ Q2
c. 75% of the data has a value ≤ Q3

The DECILE for Ungrouped Data

The deciles are the nine score points which divide a distribution into ten equal parts. They are deciles and are denoted
as D1, D2, D3,…, D9. They are computed in the same way that the quartiles are calculated.

This means that 10% of the data has a value ≤ D1 ; 20% of the data has a value ≤ D2 …; 90% of the data has a value ≤
D9

The PERCENTILE for Ungrouped Data

The percentiles are the ninety-nine score points which divide a distribution into one hundred equal parts, so that each
part represents the data set. It is used to characterize values according to the percentage below them. For example, the
first percentile (P1) separates the lowest 1% from the other 99%, the second percentile (P2) separates the lowest 2%
from the other 98%, and so on.

The percentiles determine the value for 1%, 2%,…, and 99% of the data. P30 or 30th percentile of the data means
30% of the data have values less than or equal to P30. The 1st decile is the 10th percentile (P10). It means 10% of the
data is less than or equal to the value of P10 or D1, and so on.

How to find the Quartile/Decile/Percentile of ungrouped data:

 Arrange the scores in ascending order.

  Find the position of the score in the distribution using the formula
k
Quartile: (n+1)
Qk =
4
k
Decile: Dk = (n+1)
10
k
Percentile: Pk = (n+1)
100
 Locate the nth data element in the arranged scores

Example 1: Find the first quartile (Q1) and the third quartile (Q3), given the scores of 10 students in their Mathematics
activity. Their scores are 1, 27, 16, 7, 31, 7, 30, 3, 21, and 20.

 Arrange the scores in ascending order.

 Find the position of the score in the distribution using the formula

 Locate the nth data element in the arranged scores

Example 2: Find the third Decile (D3) and the 6th Decile (D6), given the scores of 10 students in their Mathematics
activity. Their scores are 1, 27, 16, 7, 31, 7, 30, 3, 21, and 20.

 Arrange the scores in ascending order.

 Find the position of the score in the distribution using the formula

 Locate the nth data element in the arranged scores

Example 3: Find the 45th Percentile (P45) and the 80th Percentile (P80), given the scores of 10 students in their
Mathematics activity. Their scores are 1, 27, 16, 7, 31, 7, 30, 3, 21, and 20.

 Arrange the scores in ascending order.

 Find the position of the score in the distribution using the formula

 Locate the nth data element in the arranged scores