Chapter 3 Notes
©2008 by S. Gramlich
Updated 5/15/2014
Definitions and
Formulas for Describing Data Numerically
! = Important Note
! These Notes are not meant to replace
3-2
Mean = average
population: μ = ΣX / N
sample: xbar = Σx / n
Median = middle #
Mode = most frequently occurring #
Midrange = (Max +
Min) / 2
! Skip Mean from Frequency Distribution and Weighted Mean in
Skewness (see Chapter 2 Notes)
3-3
Range = hi - lo
Variance & Standard Deviation = how far away, on average, the other data points are from the mean
Variance (in squared units)
! Recommend using (Definitional) Formula 3-4 from the text
population σ2 = Σ(X-μ)2 / N
sample s2 = Σ(x-xbar)2 / (n -1)
the numerator Σ(x-xbar)2 is called the Sum of Squared Deviations (SS)
the denominator (n-1) is called the degrees of freedom (df)
Standard Deviation (in singular units) is the square root of Variance
population (Greek lowercase Sigma) σ = √σ2
sample s = √s2
Empirical Rule
68% of data within xbar ± 1*s
95% of data within xbar ± 2*s
99.7% of data within xbar ± 3*s
!
3-4
z score (standard score) = how many standard deviations away a score is from the mean
population z = (X-μ) / σ
sample z = (x-xbar) / s
! always round z score off to 2 decimal places
Boxplot = graph of 5-# summary
min = lo value
max = hi value
Quartile 1 = Q1 = P25
Quartile 2 = Q2 = P50 (median)
Quartile 3 = Q3 = P75
! to find Location of Quartile in data set, see flowchart (p. 116, fig 3-5) of text
!Skip Modified Boxplot and IQR in
TECHNOLOGY
using StatCrunch:
for 5-# summary, mean, variance, & standard deviation: Stat - Summary Stats - Columns - Select Column - Calculate
for Boxplot: Graphics - Boxplot - Select Column - Create Graph
EXCEL commands:
! highlight the data you want to calculate inside the parentheses
Statistic Excel Command
Sum: =sum( )
Sample Size: =count( )
Minimum: =min( )
Maximum: =max( )
Mean: =average( )
sample Variance: =var( )
sample Standard Deviation: =stdev( )
Median : =median( )
Mode: =mode( )
k-th Percentile: =percentile( ,.k)
k-th Quartile: =quartile( ,k)