Descriptive Statistics Marios A.

Pappas
mpap@iit.demokritos.gr
6972808879

Descriptive Statistics

1. Classification of data

Data is called discrete if you can count it. Examples include the
number of students in a room, the number of text message you send in
a day, etc.
Data is called continuous if you can measure it. Examples include
time, weight, distance etc.

2. Measures of central tendency

Average (mean) :

Median: The central data.

If n is an odd number, median is the central element of the set.

If n is an even number, median is the average of the two central
elements of the set.

Mode: The most frequent data in the set.

3. Measures of dispersion

Range: Maximum value Minimum value (maxmin)

Variance: The average distance the square of each data value is from
the mean.

Standard deviation: The square root of the variance.

Interquartile range: The difference between the 3rd and 1st quartile.
(Q3-Q1)
Descriptive Statistics Marios A. Pappas
mpap@iit.demokritos.gr
6972808879

4. Number Summary and Box Plot.

In order to draw a Box Plot you need the 5-number summary, which
contains :
1) Min
2) Q1
3) Median
4) Q3
5) Max

A Box Plot looks like this:

Outliers: Any data in the set that is not between the Lower boundary and
the Upper boundary.

Lower boundary: 1 1.5

Upper boundary: 3 + 1.5

5. Worked examples

5.1. Discrete Data

Example: The number of songs found on the newest digital recorder from a
randomly selected group of students is given below.

52 71 73 77 82 85 91 85 117 111 112 91 85 96 97 103 89 92

Find each of the following.

a) mean
b) median
c) mode
d) range
e) first quartile
f) third quartile
Descriptive Statistics Marios A. Pappas
mpap@iit.demokritos.gr
6972808879

g) interquartile range
h) standard deviation

CASIO TIP!

MENU STAT plug in the data in List 1 CALC 1VAR

After correctly inserting the data in your GDC the following information is
presented to you:

=89.39 mean
= 15.47 standard deviation
minX = 52 minimum
Q1 = 82 1st quartile
Med = 90 median
Q3 = 97 3rd quartile
maxX = 117 maximun
Mod = 85 mode

Things you calculate yourself:

= = = interquartile range
= = range

What does 1 and 3 represent?

Q1 : 25% of the data in the set is smaller than Q1.
Q3 : 25% of the data in the set is greater than Q3.

5.2. Discrete Data with Frequency

If a number of data is observed multiple times then a frequency list will be
given next to the values.
Example: The following table represents the number of strokes a golfer
made during the last 25 rounds of golf she played. Find the mean, the
median, the standard deviation and the IQR.

Score Frequency
78 2
79 3
80 5
81 7
82 5
84 2
87 1
Descriptive Statistics Marios A. Pappas
mpap@iit.demokritos.gr
6972808879

CASIO TIP!

MENU STAT plug in the data in List 1 and the frequency values
in List 2 CALC 1VAR

=
=
= .
=
=
= =

5.3. Continuous Data

Continuous data can also be organized in grouped or ungrouped frequency
distribution tables.
Continuous data are often organized in classes of equal boundaries. In
order to determine the values of the central tendency and the measures of
dispersion we take the central value of each class called the min-interval.

Example
The time taken for students to travel to school is shown in the following
table. Find the 5-number summary.

Time taken
(minutes) Frequency
10 t < 20 6
20 t < 30 16
30 t< 40 12
40 t < 50 21
50 t < 60 15

The mid-interval values for each class are 15, 25, 35, 45 and 55.
Descriptive Statistics Marios A. Pappas
mpap@iit.demokritos.gr
6972808879

Cumulative Frequency
Time taken Cumulative
(minutes) Frequency Frequency
10 t < 20 6 6
20 t < 30 16 22
30 t< 40 12 34
40 t < 50 21 55
50 t < 60 15 70

Cumulative Frequency graph

From the graph of the cumulative frequency we can easily determine the
median, the Q1 and Q3.
We divide the graph into 4 quartiles on the axis that represents the
cumulative frequency.
Q1 32
Median 43
Q3 55