9 Statistical Measures

9.1 Introduction to Statistics

9.2 Mean
9.3 Measures of Center
9.4 Measures of Variation
9.5 Mean Absolute Deviation

“Mom, my owner, an
d Fluffy have
agreed to participate
in my
sur vey. Will you be my
fourth
participant?”

iding their sum

to fin d the me an of 6, 8, and 10 by div
am trying
“Please hold still. I into three equal pil
es.”
What You
Learned Before
“Our mea
(MACC.4.NF.3.7) n weight is
18 pounds.
”

Example 1 Use a number line to order 8, 6.5, 7.25,

5
5.5, 4.25, and 7 from least to greatest.
4.25 5.5 6.5 7 7.25 8

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Use a number line to order the numbers from least to greatest.

1. 7.25, 4.5, 6.5, 6, 5.5, 8.75 2. 4, 2.5, 3.25, 5.5, 4.5, 6.75
3. 6.25, 3, 2.5, 3.5, 5.75, 5 4. 1.25, 5.5, 4.75, 4.5, 3.5, 2.25

(MACC.3.MD.2.3, MACC.4.NBT.2.4)
Example 2 How many more male
Athletes in the Summer Olympics
athletes than female
9000
athletes participated in the
8000 Male Female
Number of athletes

1992 Summer Olympics? 7000

6806
6652

6582

6000

6450
6296

6068
6652 − 2704 = 3948 5000

4835
4746
4000
4329
4069

Number of male Number of female

3512

3000
2704

athletes in 1992 athletes in 1992 2000

1000
0
1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012
3948 more male athletes participated. Year

Example 3 How many athletes participated

in the 2000 Summer Olympics?
6582 + 4069 = 10,651 athletes participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics.

5. How many more female athletes participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics
than in the 1992 Summer Olympics?
6. Describe the relationship between the number of athletes in the 2000 Summer
Olympics and the number of athletes in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
 9.1 Introduction to Statistics

How can you tell whether a question

is a statistical question?

Your heart rate is the number of times your heart beats in a certain time period, such
as 1 minute. To measure your heart rate, you can check your pulse. The illustration
shows how to check your pulse by pressing lightly on your wrist.

Here are other places to

check your pulse:
• inside your elbow
• side of your neck
• top of your foot

1 ACTIVITY: Using Data to Answer Questions

Work with a partner.
a. Find your pulse by counting the number of beats in 10 seconds. Have your
partner keep track of the time. Write a rate to describe your result.

b. Complete the ratio table. What Time (seconds) 10 30 60

is your heart rate in beats per
Number of Beats
minute?
c. Collect the recorded heart rates (in beats per minute) of the students in
your class, including yourself. Compare the heart rates.
d. MODELING Make a line plot of your data. Then answer the following
questions:
● How many values are in your data set?
● Do the heart rates cluster around a particular value or values?
COMMON ● Are there any peaks or gaps in the data?
CORE ● Are there any unusual heart rates that are far removed from the
Statistics other values?
In this lesson, you will
● recognize statistical
e. REASONING How would you answer the following question by using only
questions. one value? Explain your reasoning.
● use dot plots to display
“What is the heart rate of sixth grade students?”
numerical data.
Learning Standards f. REASONING Read and compare the following questions. How did you
MACC.6.SP.1.1 answer each question? Could the answer be the same for both questions?
MACC.6.SP.2.4
Explain.
● What is your heart rate?
● What is the heart rate of sixth grade students?
390 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures
 2 ACTIVITY: Identifying Types of Questions
Work with a partner.
a. Answer each question below on your own. Then compare your answers
with your partner’s answers. For which questions should your answers be
Math the same? For which questions might your answers be different?
Practice 1. What is your shoe size?
Build 2. How many states are in the United States?
Arguments
3. How many brothers and sisters do you have?
How can comparing
your answers help 4. How many U.S. presidents have been in office?
you support your 5. What is your favorite type of movie?
conjecture?
6. How tall are you?

b. CONJECTURE Some of the questions above are considered statistical

questions. Which ones do you think they are? Why?

3 ACTIVITY: Analyzing a Question in a Survey

Work with a partner. A student asks the following question in a survey:

“Do you prefer salty potato chips or

healthy granola bars to be sold in
the school’s vending machines?”

a. Do you think this is a fair question to ask in a survey? Explain.

b. LOGIC Identify the words in the question that may influence someone’s
response. Then explain how you can reword the question.
c. How might the results of the survey differ when the student asks the
original question and your reworded question in part (b)?

4. REASONING What do you think “statistics” means?

5. IN YOUR OWN WORDS How can you tell whether a question is a

statistical question? Give examples to support your explanation.
6. Find the least and the greatest heart rates in your class. How can you
use these two values to answer the question in Activity 1(e)?
7. Create a one-question survey. Explain why your question is a statistical
question. Then conduct your survey and organize your results in a line
plot. Make three observations about your data set.

Use what you learned about different types of questions to complete

Exercises 4−7 on page 394.

Section 9.1 Introduction to Statistics 391

9.1 Lesson
Lesson Tutorials

Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting

Key Vocabulary data. A statistical question is one for which you do not expect to get a single
statistics, p. 392 answer. Instead, you expect a variety of answers, and you are interested in
statistical question, the distribution and tendency of those answers.
p. 392
Recall that a dot plot uses a number line to show the number of times each
value in a data set occurs. Dot plots show the spread and the distribution of
a data set.

EXAMPLE 1 Answering a Statistical Question

You conduct a science experiment on house mice. Your
teacher asks you, “What is the weight of a mouse?”
a. Is this a statistical question? Explain.
Because you can anticipate that the weights
of mice will vary, it is a statistical question.

Weights (grams) b. You weigh some mice and record the weights
(in grams) in the table. Display the data in a
20 19 21 20
dot plot. Identify any clusters, peaks, or gaps
18 20 27 21 in the data.
28 23 20 19
Draw a number line that includes the least value, 18, and greatest
20 21 18 27
value, 28. Then place a dot above the number line for each data value.
19 22 21 20
peak
cluster gap

Study Tip Weight

(grams)
Dot plots are sometimes 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
called line plots. It is
easy to see clusters, Most of the data are clustered around 20. There is a peak at 20 and a
peaks, and gaps in a gap between 23 and 27.
dot plot.
c. Use the distribution of the data to answer the question.
Most mice weigh about 20 grams.

1. The table shows the ages of some people Ages

Exercises 8–16 who retired early. You are asked, “How old are
60 61 59 60
people who retire early?”
62 56 64 59
a. Is this a statistical question? Explain.
58 60 61 60
b. Display the data in a dot plot. Identify any
59 60 58 61
clusters, peaks, or gaps in the data.
c. Use the distribution of the data to answer
the question.

392 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

EXAMPLE 2 Using a Dot Plot
You record the high temperature every day while at summer camp in
August. Then you create the vertical dot plot.
a. How many weeks were you at
summer camp? 87

Because there are 28 data values on the 86

dot plot, you were at camp 28 days.
85
28 days ⋅ 1 week
— = 4 weeks
7 days
84

So, you were at summer camp for

83
4 weeks.
82
b. How can you collect these data?
What are the units? 81

You can collect these data with a

80
thermometer. The units are degrees
Fahrenheit (°F).

c. Write a statistical question that

you can answer using the dot plot.
Then answer the question.
One possible statistical question is:

What is the daily high temperature in August?

The high temperatures are spread out with about half of

the temperatures around 81°F and half of the temperatures
around 86°F.

2. The dot plot shows the times of sixth grade students in a

100-meter race.
Exercises 17 and 18

Time
13.0 13.2 13.4 13.6 13.8 14.0

a. How many students ran in the race?

b. How can you collect these data? What are the units?
c. Write a statistical question that you can answer using the dot
plot. Then answer the question.

Section 9.1 Introduction to Statistics 393

9.1 Exercises
Help with Homework

1. VOCABULARY What is a statistical question? Give an example. Miles

2. CRITICAL THINKING What process can you use to answer 6 1 9 2
a statistical question? 2 5 4 9
3. NUMBER SENSE The results of a survey are shown in the 8 10 6 6
table. Did the survey ask a statistical question? Explain. 5 1 8 1

6)=3
9+(- 3)=
3+(- 9)=
4+(- =
1)
9+(-

Answer the question. Tell whether your answer would be the same as your classmates’.
4. How many inches are in 1 foot? 5. How many pets do you have?
6. On what day of the month were you born? 7. How many senators are in Congress?

Determine whether the question is a statistical question. Explain.

1 8. What is the eye color of sixth grade students?
9. At what temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit) does water freeze?
10. How many pages are in the favorite books of students your age?
11. How many hours do sixth grade students use the Internet each week?

Display the data in a dot plot. Identify any clusters, peaks, or gaps in the data.
12. Number of Fouls 13. Camper Registrations
2 1 2 0 0 2 21 25 25 22 21
2 1 6 1 1 0 23 24 26 25 16
24 26 22 25 22

14. Years 15. Test Scores

2011 2008 2013 2009 85 80 83 90 88
2009 2010 2010 2009 82 83 81 80 89
2010 2012 2009 2010 89 84 86 87 83

16. SURVEY You conduct a survey to answer: “How many

hours does a sixth grade student spend on homework
Hours of during a school night?” The table shows the results.
Homework
2 4 3 2 a. Is this a statistical question? Explain.
1 2 2 1 b. Display the data in a dot plot. Identify any clusters,
2 3 5 2 peaks, or gaps in the data.
c. Use the distribution of the data to answer the question.

394 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

2 17. EARTHWORMS The dot plot shows the lengths of earthworms.

Length
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

a. How many earthworms does it represent?

b. How can you collect these data? What are the units?
85
c. Write a statistical question that you can answer using the 84
dot plot. Then answer the question. 83
82
81
18. BASKETBALL The vertical dot plot shows the heights of 80
the players on a recent NBA championship team. 79
78
a. How many players were on the team? 77
76
b. How can you collect these data? What are the units?
75
c. Write a statistical question that you can answer 74
using the dot plot. Then answer the question. 73
72

Use the Internet to research and identify the method of measurement

and the units used when collecting data about the topic.
19. wind speed 20. amount of rainfall 21. earthquake intensity

The dot plot shows the speeds of cars in a traffic study. Estimate the speed limit.
Explain your reasoning.
22. 23.

Speed Speed
(miles per hour) (miles per hour)
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68

24. REASONING “How many letters are in the English alphabet?” is not a
statistical question. Write a question about letters that is a statistical question.
Explain your reasoning.

25. A bar graph shows the favorite colors of 30 people. Does it make
sense to describe the distribution of these data? Explain.

Tell whether the ordered pair is a solution of the equation. (Section 7.4)
26. y = 4x; (2, 8) 27. y = 3x + 5; (3, 15) 28. y = 6x − 15; (4, 9)

29. MULTIPLE CHOICE A point is reflected in the x-axis. The reflected point is
(4, −3). What is the original point? (Section 6.5)

○
A (−3, 4) ○
B (−4, 3) C (−4, −3)
○ ○
D (4, 3)

Section 9.1 Introduction to Statistics 395

 9.2 Mean

How can you find an average value of a

data set?

1 ACTIVITY: Finding a Balance Point

Work with a partner. Discuss the distribution of the data. Where on
the number line do you think the data set is balanced ? Is this
a good representation of the average? Explain.
a. number of quarters brought to a batting cage

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

b. annual income of recent graduates

(in thousands of dollars)

25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65

c. h
hybrid fuel economy (miles per gallon)

21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45

2 ACTIVITY: Finding a Fair Share

Work with a partner. It costs $0.25 to hit 12 baseballs in a batting cage. The
COMMON
CORE table shows the numbers of quarters six friends bring to the batting cage.
Statistics They want to group the quarters so that everyone has the same amount.
In this lesson, you will
● understand the concept Quarters
of the mean of data sets.
● find the mean of data sets.
John Lisa Miguel Matt Cheryl Jean
● compare and interpret the 6 3 4 5 2 4
means of data sets.
Learning Standards Use counters to represent each number in the table. How can you use the
MACC.6.SP.1.2
MACC.6.SP.1.3
counters to determine how many times each friend can use the batting cage?
MACC.6.SP.2.5a Explain how this procedure results in a “fair share.”
MACC.6.SP.2.5c

396 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

 3 ACTIVITY: Finding an Average
Work with a partner. Use the information in Activity 2.
a. What is the total number of quarters the group of friends brought to the
batting cage?
b. REASONING How can you use math to find the average number of quarters
that each friend brought to the batting cage? Find the average number of
quarters. Why do you think this average represents a fair share?

4 ACTIVITY: Answering a Statistical Question

Work with a partner. The table shows the
numbers of quarters several people bring to a
batting cage. You want to answer the question:
Math “How many quarters do people
Practice bring to a batting cage?”
Use Clear
Definitions a. Explain why this question is a statistical
What does it mean question.
for data to have an b. MODELING Make a dot plot of the data.
average? How does Use the distribution of the data to answer
this help you answer
the question?
the question. Explain your reasoning.
c. REASONING Use an average to answer the
question. Explain your reasoning.

5. IN YOUR OWN WORDS How can you find an average value of a data set?

6. Give two real-life examples of averages.

7. Explain what it means to say the average of a data set is the point
on a number line where the data set is balanced.
8. There are 5 students in the cartoon. Four
of the students are 66 inches tall. One is
96 inches tall.
a. How do you think the students decided
that their average height is 6 feet?
b. Does a height of 6 feet seem like a good
representation of the average height of
the 5 students? Explain why or why not. “Yup, the average height in
our class is 6 feet.”

Use what you learned about averages to complete Exercises 4 and 5

on page 400.

Section 9.2 Mean 397

9.2 Lesson
Lesson Tutorials

A mean is a type of average.

Key Vocabulary
mean, p. 398
outlier, p. 399
Mean
Words The mean of a data set is the sum of the data divided by the
number of data values.
8+5+6+9 28
Numbers Data: 8, 5, 6, 9 Mean: —— = — = 7
4 4
4 data values

EXAMPLE 1 Finding the Mean

The table shows the number of text messages sent by a group of
Text Messages Sent
friends over 1 week. What is the mean number of messages sent?
Mark: 120
A 100
○ B 102
○ C 103
○ D 104
○
Laura: 95
Stacy: 101
Josh: 125 120 + 95 + 101 + 125 + 82 + 108 + 90 Sum of the data
mean = ————
Kevin: 82 7
Number of values
Maria: 108 721
= —, or 103 Simplify.
Manny: 90 7

The mean number of text messages sent is 103. The correct

answer is ○
C .

EXAMPLE 2 Comparing Means

The double bar graph Rainfall
shows the monthly 4.0
rainfall amounts for 3.5
3.5
City 1 3.4
Rainfall (inches)

two cities over a 3.0 City 2

2.7
2.5
six-month period. 2.5 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1
2.0 1.9
Compare the mean 1.7 1.6 1.7
1.5
monthly rainfalls.
1.0
0.5
0
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr
Month

3.5 + 2.2 + 1.9 + 2.1 + 2.5 + 3.4 15.6

City 1 mean: ——— = —, or 2.6
6 6
1.7 + 1.6 + 2.2 + 2.1 + 2.7 + 1.7 12
City 2 mean: ——— = —, or 2
6 6

Because 2.6 is greater than 2, City 1 averaged more rainfall.

398 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

 Find the mean of the data.
Exercises 6 –9 1. 49, 62, 52, 54, 61, 70, 55, 53 2. 7.2, 8.5, 7.0, 8.1, 6.7

An outlier is a data value that is much greater or much less than the other
values. When included in a data set, it can affect the mean.

EXAMPLE 3 Finding the Mean With and Without an Outlier

The table shows the heights of several Shetland ponies.
Shetland Pony Heights (inches)
40 37 39 40 42 a. Identify the outlier.
38 38 37 28 40 b. Find the mean with and without the outlier.
c. Describe how the outlier affects the mean.

a. Display the data in a dot plot.

Outlier
Height
(inches)
26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42

The height of 28 inches is much less than the other heights.

So, it is an outlier.

b. Mean with outlier:

40 + 37 + 39 + 40 + 42 + 38 + 38 + 37 + 28 + 40 379
———— = —, or 37.9
10 10
Mean without outlier:

40 + 37 + 39 + 40 + 42 + 38 + 38 + 37 + 40 351
———— = —, or 39
9 9

c. With the outlier, the mean is less than all but three of the heights.
Without the outlier, the mean better represents the heights.

For each data set, identify the outlier. Then describe how it affects
Exercise 14 the mean.
3. Weights (in pounds) of dogs at a kennel:
48, 50, 55, 60, 8, 37, 50
4. Prices for flights from Miami, Florida, to San Juan, Puerto Rico:
$456, $512, $516, $900, $436, $516

Section 9.2 Mean 399

9.2 Exercises
Help with Homework

1. VOCABULARY Arrange the words to explain how to find a mean.

the data values divide by the number of data values add then

2. NUMBER SENSE Is the mean always equal to a value in the data set? Explain.
3. REASONING Can you use the mean to answer a statistical question? Explain.

6)=3
9+(- 3)=
3+(- 9)=
4+(- =
1)
9+(-

Describe an average value of the data.

4. Ages in a class: 11, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 13 5. Movies seen this week: 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3

Find the mean of the data.

1 6. Pets Owned 7. Brothers and Sisters
Brandon ∣
̇
̇ Amanda
Jill ∣∣∣
̇̇̇
̇̇̇ Eve
Mark ∣∣
̇̇
̇̇
Joseph
Nicole ∣∣∣∣
̇̇̇̇
̇̇̇̇

Steve 0 Michael

8. 9. Visits to Your Website

Sit-ups
108 85 94 40
Number of

31 28
30
visits

103 112 115 20 16 17

12
98 119 126 10 8
0
105 82 89 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Day

10. GOLF The table shows tournament finishes

Tournament Finishes
for a golfer.
1 1 2 1 1 12 6 2
a. What was the golfer’s mean finish? 15 37 1 2 1 26 9 1
b. Identify two outliers for the data.

11. COMMERCIALS You and your friends are watching

Time (minutes) a television show. One of your friends asks, “How
long are the commercial breaks during this show?”
4.2 3.5 4.55 2.75 2.25
a. Is this a statistical question? Explain.
b. Use the mean of the values in the table to
answer the question.

400 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

 Rainfall Rainfall 12. RAINFALL The table shows 6
Month Month the monthly rainfall at a
(inches) (inches) 5
0 1.

Jan 2.22 Jul 3.27

measuring station. What is rain gauge
recorder
6.0 0

4
the mean monthly rainfall?
Feb 1.51 Aug 5.40 3

Mar 1.86 Sep 5.45

2
Apr 2.06 Oct 4.34 13. OPEN-ENDED Create two
different sets of data that 1
May 3.48 Nov 2.64
have six values and a mean
Jun 4.57 Dec 2.14
of 21.

3 14. CELL PHONE The bar graph shows your cell phone usage for five months.
a. Which data value is an outlier? Explain.
b. Find the mean with and Cell Phone Usage
without the outlier. Then
800
describe how the outlier 618 575

Minutes
600 516
445
affects the mean. 400 288
c. Describe a situation that 200

could have caused the 0

May June July Aug Sept
outlier in this problem. Month

15. HEIGHT The table shows the heights of the volleyball players from two
schools. What is the difference between the mean heights of the two teams?
Do outliers affect either mean? Explain.
Player Height (inches)
Dolphins 59 65 53 56 58 61 64 68 51 56 54 57
Tigers 63 68 66 58 54 55 61 62 53 70 64 64 62 67 69

16. REASONING Make a dot plot of the data set 11, 13, 17, 15, 12, 18, and 12. Use the
dot plot to explain how the mean is the point where the data set is balanced.

17. ALLOWANCE In your class, 7 students do not receive a weekly allowance, 5 students
receive $3, 7 students receive $5, 3 students receive $6, and 2 students receive $8.
What is the mean weekly allowance? Explain how you found your answer.

18. Precision A collection of 8 backpacks has a mean weight of 14 pounds.

A different collection of 12 backpacks has a mean weight of 9 pounds. What
is the mean weight of the 20 backpacks? Explain how you found your answer.

Evaluate the expression. (Section 1.3)

8 + 10 26 + 34 18 + 19 14 + 17
19. — 20. — 21. — 22. —
2 2 2 2

23. MULTIPLE CHOICE 60% of what number is 105? (Section 5.6)

○
A 63 ○
B 175 ○
C 630 ○
D 1750

Section 9.2 Mean 401

 9.3 Measures of Center

In what other ways can you describe an

average of a data set?

1 ACTIVITY: Finding a Median

Work with a partner.
a. Write the total number of letters in the first and
last names of 19 celebrities, historical figures, or
people you know. Organize your data in a table.
One person is already listed for you.

b. Order the values in your data set from least to

greatest. Then write the data on a strip of grid
paper with 19 boxes.

c. Place a finger on the square at each end of the strip. Move your fingers
toward the center of the ordered data set until your fingers touch.
On what value do your fingers touch?

COMMON
CORE
Statistics
In this lesson, you will
● understand the concept
d. Now take your strip of grid paper and fold it in half. On what number
of measures of center. is the crease? What do you notice? This value is called the median.
● find the median and mode How would you describe to another student what the median of a
of data sets.
data set represents?
Learning Standards
MACC.6.SP.1.2 e. How many values are greater than the median? How many are less
MACC.6.SP.1.3 than the median?
MACC.6.SP.2.5c
f. Why do you think the median is considered an average of a data set?

402 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

 2 ACTIVITY: Adding a Value to a Data Set
Work with a partner.
a. How many total letters are in your firstt
name and last name? Add this value to o
the ordered data set in Activity 1. How
w
many values are now in your data set?

b. Write the ordered data, including

your new value from part (a), on a
strip of grid paper.

c. Repeat parts (c) and (d) from Activity 1. Explain your findings.
How do you think you can find the median of this data set?

d. Compare the medians in Activities 1 and 2. Then answer the

following questions. Explain your reasoning.
● Do you think the median always has to be a value in the data set?
● Do you think the median always has to be a whole number?

3 ACTIVITY: Finding a Mode

Work with a partner.
a. Make a dot plot for the data set in Activity 2. Describe the distribution of
Math the data.
Practice
b. Which value occurs most often in the data set? This value is called the mode.
Use a Graph
How can you use c. Do you think a data set can have no mode or more than one mode? Explain.
the dot plot to find d. Do you think the mode always has to be a value in the data set? Explain.
the mode?
e. Why do you think the mode is considered an average of a data set?

4. IN YOUR OWN WORDS In what other ways can you describe an average of a
data set?
5. Find the mean of your data set in Activity 2. Then compare the mean,
median, and mode. Is there one measure that you think best represents
your data set? Explain your reasoning.

Use what you learned about the median of a data set to complete
Exercises 5 and 6 on page 407.

Section 9.3 Measures of Center 403

9.3 Lesson
Lesson Tutorials

A measure of center is a measure that describes the typical value

Key Vocabulary of a data set. The mean is one type of measure of center. Here are
measure of center, two others.
p. 404
median, p. 404
mode, p. 404

Median
Words Order the data. For a set with an odd number of values, the
median is the middle value. For a set with an even number of
values, the median is the mean of the two middle values.
Numbers Data: 5, 8, 9, 12, 14 The median is 9.

Data: 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11
5+7
The median is —, or 6.
Study Tip 2
The mode is the only
measure of center that Mode
you can use to describe Words The mode of a data set is the value or values that occur most
a set of data that is not often. Data can have one mode, more than one mode, or no
made up of numbers.
mode. When all values occur only once, there is no mode.
Numbers Data: 11, 13, 15, 15, 18, 21, 24, 24

The modes are 15 and 24.

EXAMPLE 1 Finding the Median and Mode

Find the median and mode of the bowling scores.
Bowling Scores
120 135 160 125 90 90, 105, 120, 125, 135, 145, 160, 160, 175, 205 Order the data.
205 160 175 105 145
135 + 145 280
Median: — = —, or 140 Add the two middle values and divide by 2.
2 2

Mode: 90, 105, 120, 125, 135, 145, 160, 160, 175, 205

The value 160 occurs most often.

The median is 140. The mode is 160.

Find the median and mode of the data.

Exercises 7–12 1. 20, 4, 17, 8, 12, 9, 5, 20, 13 2. 100, 75, 90, 80, 110, 102

404 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

 EXAMPLE 2 Finding the Mode
The list shows the favorite types of movies for students in a class.
Favorite Types of Movies Organize the data in a frequency table. Then find the mode.
Comedy Drama Horror
Type Tally Frequency
Horror Drama Horror
Action ∣̇
̇̇̇̇ ̇
∣∣∣∣ 5 The number of tally
Comedy
Action
Comedy
Comedy
Action
Action Comedy ∣∣̇∣∣∣ ∣̇∣∣
̇̇̇̇
̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇
̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇
8
marks is the frequency.

Drama ∣∣∣∣
̇̇̇̇
4
∣∣̇∣∣∣ ∣̇∣
Horror Drama Comedy ̇̇̇̇
̇̇̇̇ ̇̇
Comedy Comedy Horror Horror ̇̇̇̇ ̇̇
7
Horror Comedy Action Make a tally for each vote.
Horror Action Drama Comedy received the most votes.
So, the mode is comedy.

3. One member of the class was absent and ends up voting

Exercises 14–15 for horror. Does this change the mode? Explain.

EXAMPLE 3 Choosing the Best Measure of Center

Find the mean, median, and mode of the sneaker prices. Which
measure best represents the data?
$20

$31
20 + 31 + 122 + 48 + 37 + 20 + 45 + 65 388
Mean: ———— = —, or 48.5
8 8
$122

$48 Median: 20, 20, 31, 37, 45, 48, 65, 122 Order from least to greatest.

37 + 45 82
— = —, or 41
$37 2 2
$20

Mode: 20, 20, 31, 37, 45, 48, 65, 122 The value 20 occurs most often.
$45

$65
Price
(dollars)
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130

Mode: 20 Median: 41 Mean: 48.5

The median best represents the data. The mode is less than most of
the data, and the mean is greater than most of the data.

Find the mean, median, and mode of the data. Choose the measure
Exercises 17–20 that best represents the data. Explain your reasoning.
4. 1, 93, 46, 48, 34, 194, 67, 55 5. 96, 150, 102, 87, 150, 75

Section 9.3 Measures of Center 405

 EXAMPLE 4 Removing an Outlier
Identify the outlier in Example 3. Find the mean, median, and mode
without the outlier. Which measure does the outlier affect the most?
The price of $122 is much greater than any other price. So, it is
the outlier.

Mean Median Mode

With Outlier (Example 3) 48.5 41 20
Without Outlier 38 37 20

The mean is affected the most by the outlier.

6. The times (in minutes) it takes six students to travel to school

Exercises 21–22 are 8, 10, 10, 15, 20, and 45. Identify the outlier. Find the mean,
median, and mode with and without the outlier. Which measure
does the outlier affect the most?

EXAMPLE 5 Changing the Values of a Data Set

The prices of six video games at an online store Video Game
are shown in the table. The price of each game Prices
increases by $4.98 when a shipping charge is $53.42 $35.69
included. How does this increase affect the mean,
$18.99 $25.13
median, and mode?
$27.97 $53.42
Make a new table by adding $4.98 to each price.
Then find the mean, median, and mode of both data sets.

Video Game Mean Median Mode

Prices with
Original Price 35.77 31.83 53.42
Shipping Charge
Price with
$58.40 $40.67 40.75 36.81 58.4
Shipping Charge
$23.97 $30.11
$32.95 $58.40 Compare:
Mean: 40.75 − 35.77 = 4.98
Median: 36.81 − 31.83 = 4.98
Mode: 58.4 − 53.42 = 4.98
By increasing each video game price by $4.98 for shipping, the
mean, median, and mode all increase by $4.98.

7. WHAT IF? The store decreases the price of each video game by
$3. How does this decrease affect the mean, median, and mode?

406 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

9.3 Exercises
Help with Homework

1. NUMBER SENSE Give an example of a data set that has no mode.

2. WRITING Which is affected most by an outlier: the mean, median, or mode? Explain.
3. WHICH ONE DOESN’T BELONG Which word does not belong with the other three?
Explain.

median outlier mode mean

4. NUMBER SENSE A data set has a mean of 7, a median of 5, and a mode of 8.

Which of the numbers 7, 5, and 8 must be in the data set? Explain.

6)=3
9+(- 3)=
3+(- 9)=
4+(- =
1)
9+(-

Use grid paper to find the median of the data.

5. 9, 7, 2, 4, 3, 5, 9, 6, 8, 0, 3, 8 6. 16, 24, 13, 36, 22, 26, 22, 28, 25

Find the median and mode(s) of the data.

1 7. 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 3, 8 8. 14, 19, 16, 13, 16, 14
9. 93, 81, 94, 71, 89, 92, 94, 99 10. 44, 13, 36, 52, 19, 27, 33
11. 12, 33, 18, 28, 29, 12, 17, 4, 2 12. 55, 44, 40, 55, 48, 44, 58, 67

✗
13. ERROR ANALYSIS Describe and correct the error
in finding the median of the data. The median is 58.

63, 55, 49, 58, 50, 59, 51

Find the mode(s) of the data.

2 14. Shirt Color 15. Talent Show Acts
Black Blue Red Singing Dancing Comedy
Pink Black Black Singing Singing Dancing
Gray Green Blue Juggling Dancing Singing
Blue Blue Red Singing Poetry Dancing
Yellow Blue Blue Comedy Magic Dancing
Black Orange Black Poetry Singing Singing
Black

16. REASONING In Exercises 14 and 15, can you find the mean and median
of the data? Explain.

Section 9.3 Measures of Center 407

 Find the mean, median, and mode(s) of the data. Choose the measure that best
represents the data. Explain your reasoning.
3 17. 48, 12, 11, 45, 48, 48, 43, 32 18. 12, 13, 40, 95, 88, 7, 95
19. 2, 8, 10, 12, 56, 9, 5, 2, 4 20. 126, 62, 144, 81, 144, 103

Find the mean, median, and mode(s) of the data with and without the outlier.
Describe the effect of the outlier on the measures of center.
4 21. 45, 52, 17, 63, 57, 42, 54, 58 22. 85, 77, 211, 88, 91, 84, 85

Find the mean, median, and mode(s) of the data.

1 5 1 3 5 1 5 1
23. 4.7, 8.51, 6.5, 7.42, 9.64, 7.2, 9.3 24. 8 —, 6 —, 3 —, 5 —, 6 —, 5 —, 10 —, 4 —
2 8 8 4 8 4 8 2

25. WEATHER The weather forecast for a week is shown.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

High 90º F 91º F 89º F 97º F 101º F 99º F 91º F

Low 74º F 78º F 77º F 77º F 83º F 78º F 72º F

a. Find the mean, median, and mode(s) of the high temperatures. Which
measure best represents the data? Explain your reasoning.
b. Repeat part (a) for the low temperatures.

26. RESEARCH Find the unit costs of 10 different kinds of cereal. Choose one
cereal whose unit cost will be an outlier.
a. Find the mean, median, and mode(s) of the data. Which measure best
represents the data? Explain your reasoning.
b. Identify the outlier in the data set. Find the mean, median, and mode(s)
of the data set without the outlier. Which measure does the outlier affect
the most?

Volunteering at an Animal Shelter 27. PROBLEM SOLVING The bar graph shows
18
the numbers of hours you volunteered at
16 15 an animal shelter. What is the minimum
14 number of hours you need to work in the
12 11 seventh week to justify that you worked an
10
Hours

10 9 average of 10 hours for the 7 weeks? Explain

8 7 your answer using measures of center.
6
6
4
2
28. REASONING Why do you think the mode
0 is the least frequently used measure to
1 2 3 4 5 6
describe a data set? Explain.
Week

408 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

29. MOTOCROSS The ages of the racers in a bicycle motocross race
are 14, 22, 20, 25, 26, 17, 21, 30, 27, 25, 14, and 29. The 30-year-old
drops out of the race and is replaced with a 15-year-old. How are
the mean, median, and mode of the ages affected?

30. CAMERAS The data are

the prices of several
digital cameras at a store.
$130 $170 $230 $130
$250 $275 $130 $185
a. Does the price shown in the advertisement represent the prices well?
Explain.
b. Why might the store use this advertisement?
c. In this situation, why might a person want to know the mean?
the median? the mode? Explain.

31. SALARIES The table shows the Monthly Salaries (dollars)

monthly salaries for employees at a
1940 1660 1860 2100 1720
company.
1540 1760 1940 1820 1600
a. Find the mean, median, and mode
of the data.
b. Each employee receives a 5% raise. Find the mean, median, and mode of
the data with the raise. How does this increase affect the mean, median,
and mode of the data?
c. Use the original monthly salaries to calculate the annual salaries. Find the
mean, median, and mode of the annual salaries. How are these values related
to the mean, median, and mode of the monthly salaries?

32. Consider the algebraic expressions 3x, 9x, 4x, 23x, 6x, and 3x.
Assume x > 0.
a. Find the mean, median, and mode.
b. Is there an outlier? If so, what is it?

Find the value of the expression. (Section 1.1)

33. 48 − 35 34. 188 − 123 35. 416 − 297 36. 6249 − 3374

37. MULTIPLE CHOICE A shelf in your room can hold at most 30 pounds.
There are 12 pounds of books already on it. Which inequality represents
the number of pounds you can add to the shelf? (Section 7.6)
A x < 18
○ B x ≥ 18
○ C x ≤ 42
○ D x ≤ 18
○

Section 9.3 Measures of Center 409

 9 Study Help
Graphic Organizer

You can use a concept circle to organize information about a concept. Here is an example
of a concept circle for a statistical question.

Statistical Question

Concept
Questions for which
you do not expect
a single answer

Example Non-Example
What is the How many feet
height of a are in a mile?
student?

Apply
Record and analyze
the heights of
students.

Make concept circles to help you study

these topics.
1. mean 2. outlier
3. measures of center 4. median
5. mode

After you complete this chapter, make

concept circles for the following topics.
6. measures of variation
7. range
8. quartiles “Do you think this concept circle will help
my owner understand that ‘Speak’ and
‘Sit’ need motivation?”
9. interquartile range
10. mean absolute deviation

410 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

9.1– 9.3 Quiz
Progress Check

Display the data in a dot plot. Identify any clusters, peaks, or gaps in the data. (Section 9.1)
1. Weight (grams) 2. Time (seconds)
42 40 37 42 63 66 65 60 59
43 41 42 43 59 64 58 65 58
37 41 41 42 64 60 59 64 63

Find the mean of the data. (Section 9.2)

3. Tour Dates 4. Scores
May ∣∣∣
̇̇̇ Judge 1 8.9
∣∣̇∣∣∣ ∣̇∣̇∣∣∣ ̇
̇̇̇

June ̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇̇ Judge 2 9.4

∣∣̇∣∣∣ ∣̇∣̇∣∣∣ ∣̇∣∣∣

̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇̇
̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇̇ Judge 3 8.6
July
∣∣̇∣∣∣ ∣̇∣̇∣∣∣ ∣̇∣̇∣∣∣ ∣̇∣∣
̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇̇
̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇
Judge 4 9.1
August
∣∣̇∣∣∣ ̇
̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇̇ ̇̇̇
̇̇̇̇
September ̇̇̇̇

Find the median and the mode(s) of the data. (Section 9.3)
5. 3, 5, 9, 11, 3 6. 24, 4, 37, 56, 6, 56, 45

Find the mean, median, and mode(s) of the data. Choose the measure that
best represents the data. Explain your reasoning. (Section 9.3)
7. 47, 147, 24, 47, 38, 42 8. 34, 57, 58, 56, 21

Hours of Exercise 9. EXERCISE You conduct a survey to answer: “How many

hours does a sixth-grade student spend exercising
5 1 5 3 5
during a week?” The table shows the results. (Section 9.1)
4 5 2 5 4
3 4 6 5 6 a. Is this a statistical question? Explain.

b. Display the data in a dot plot. Identify any clusters, peaks, or gaps in the data.
c. Use the distribution of the data to answer the question.

10. EMAILS The number of emails you received in 5 days is

shown. What is the mean number of emails you received
per day? (Section 9.2)

11. QUIZZES The data are your quiz scores for a class.
Find the median and the mode of the data. (Section 9.3)
18, 19, 17, 14, 20, 20, 15, 21

12. MUSIC The data are the lengths of the

songs (in minutes) on your new CD. Which
measure of center best represents the data
with and without the outlier? Explain. (Section
ion 9.3)
2.2, 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, 2.8, 3.0, 3.2, 3.4, 14.2

Sections 9.1–9.3 Quiz 411

 9.4 Measures of Variation

How can you describe the spread of a

data set?

1 ACTIVITY: Interpreting Statements

Work with a partner. There are 24 students in
your class. Your teacher makes the following
statements:
● “The exam scores range from 75% to 96%.”
● “Most of the students received high scores.”

a. What do you think the first statement means? Explain.

s? Explain
b. In the first statement, is your teacher describing the center of
the data set? If not, what do you think your teacher is describing?
c. What do you think the scores are for most of the students in the class?
Explain your reasoning.
d. Use your teacher’s statements to make a dot plot that can represent the
distribution of the exam scores of the class.

2 ACTIVITY: Grouping Data

Work with a partner. The numbers of U.S. states
visited by each student in a sixth grade class
are shown.
a. Between what values do the data range?
b. Write the ordered data values on a strip of
grid paper and fold it to find the median.
COMMON How many values are greater than the
CORE median? How many are less than the median?
Statistics c. REPEATED REASONING Fold the strip in half
In this lesson, you will
again. On what values are the two new creases?
● find the range of data sets.

● find the interquartile range

What do you think these values represent?
of data sets.
d. Into how many parts did you divide the data set?
● check for outliers in

data sets. How many data values are in each part?

Learning Standards
MACC.6.SP.1.2 e. Graph the median and the values you found in parts (a) and (c)
MACC.6.SP.1.3 on a number line. Are the distances the same between these points?
MACC.6.SP.2.5c
f. How can you use these values to describe the spread of the data?

412 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

 3 ACTIVITY: Adding a Value to a Data Set
Work with a partner. A new student joins the class in Activity 2. The new
student has visited 41 states.
a. Add this value to the ordered data set in Activity 2. Does your answer to
part (a) change? Explain.
b. How does the distribution of the data change when this value is added?
Explain your reasoning.
c. How does adding this value affect the values on your number line in
part (e) of Activity 2?

4 ACTIVITY: Analyzing Data Sets

Work with a partner. Identify the data set that is the least spread out and the
data set that is the most spread out. Explain your reasoning.
a.

Math
Practice 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

Analyze Givens b.
How can you use
the given information 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
to determine how
spread out the c.
data are?

25 30 35 40 45 50 55

d.

25 30 35 40 45 50 55

5. IN YOUR OWN WORDS How can you describe the spread of a data set?

6. Make a dot plot of the data set in Activity 2. Describe any

similarities between the dot plot and the number line in part (e).

Use what you learned about variation to complete Exercises 4 and 5

on page 416.

Section 9.4 Measures of Variation 413

9.4 Lesson
Lesson Tutorials

A measure of variation is a measure that describes the distribution of a

data set. A simple measure of variation to find is the range. The range of a
data set is the difference between the greatest value and the least value.

EXAMPLE 1 Finding the Range

The table shows the lengths of several Lengths (feet)
Key Vocabulary Burmese pythons captured for a study. Find
measure of variation, 18.5 8
and interpret the range of their lengths.
p. 414 11 10
To find the least and the greatest values, order
range, p. 414 14 15.5
the lengths from least to greatest.
quartiles, p. 414 12.5 6.25
first quartile, p. 414 5, 6.25, 8, 10, 11, 12.5, 14, 15.5, 16.25, 18.5
16.25 5
third quartile, p. 414
The least value is 5. The greatest value is 18.5.
interquartile range,
p. 414 So, the range of the lengths is 18.5 − 5, or 13.5 feet. This means that
the lengths vary by no more than 13.5 feet.

1. The ages of people in line for a roller coaster are 15, 17, 21, 32, 41, 30,
Exercises 6–9 25, 52, 16, 39, 11, and 24. Find and interpret the range of their ages.

Quartiles
The quartiles of a data set divide the data into four equal parts. Recall
that the median (second quartile) divides the data set into two halves.
Reading lower half Median = 29 upper half
The first quartile can
also be called the 18 21 22 24 28 30 31 32 36 37
lower quartile. The
third quartile can also
be called the upper The median of the lower half The median of the upper half
quartile. is the first quartile, Q1. is the third quartile, Q3.

Interquartile Range (IQR)

The difference between the third quartile and the first quartile is
called the interquartile range. The IQR represents the range of the
middle half of the data and is another measure of variation.
18 21 22 24 28 30 31 32 36 37
IQR = Q3 − Q1
= 32 − 22
= 10

414 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

EXAMPLE 2 Finding the Interquartile Range
The dot plot shows the top speeds of 12 sports cars. Find and
interpret the interquartile range of the data.

Speed
(miles per hour)
220 225 230 235 240 245 250 255 260 265 270

Order the speeds from slowest to fastest. Find the quartiles.

245 + 250
Median: — = 247.5
2
lower half upper half

220 230 230 240 240 245 250 250 250 260 260 270

230 + 240 250 + 260

Q1: — = 235 Q3: — = 255
2 2

So, the interquartile range is 255 − 235 = 20. This means that the
middle half of the speeds vary by no more than 20 miles per hour.

You can use the quartiles and the interquartile range to check for outliers.
Any value less than Any value greater than
Q1 Ź 1.5(IQR) is an outlier. Q3 à 1.5(IQR) is an outlier.

Outliers IQR Outliers

Q1 Ź 1.5(IQR) First Median Third Q3 à 1.5(IQR)

quartile, Q1 quartile, Q3

EXAMPLE 3 Checking for Outliers

Check for outliers in the data set in Example 2.
Q1 − 1.5(IQR) Outlier boundaries Q3 + 1.5(IQR)
235 − 1.5(20) Substitute values. 255 + 1.5(20)
205 Simplify. 285
There are no speeds less than 205 miles per hour or greater than
285 miles per hour. So, the data set has no outliers.

2. The number of pages in each of an author’s novels is shown.

Exercises 11–14
356, 364, 390, 468, 400, 382, 376, 396, 350
and 17
a. Find and interpret the interquartile range of the data.
b. Does this data set contain any outliers? Justify your answer.

Section 9.4 Measures of Variation 415

9.4 Exercises
Help with Homework

1. VOCABULARY How are measures of center different from measures of

variation?
2. VOCABULARY How many quartiles does a data set have?
3. DIFFERENT WORDS, SAME QUESTION Which is different? Find “both” answers.
53, 47, 60, 45, 62, 59, 65, 50, 56, 48

What is the interquartile range of What is the range of the data?

the data?

What is the range of the middle half What is the difference between the
of the data? third quartile and the first quartile?

6)=3
9+(- 3)=
3+(- 9)=
4+(- =
1)
9+(-

Use grid paper to find the median of the data. Then find the median of the lower
half and the median of the upper half of the data. Describe the spread of the data.
4. 5, 8, 10, 1, 7, 6, 15, 8, 6 5. 82, 62, 95, 81, 89, 51, 72, 56, 97, 98, 79, 85

Find the range of the data.

1 6. 26, 21, 27, 33, 24, 29 7. 52, 40, 49, 48, 62, 54, 44, 58, 39
8. 133, 117, 152, 127, 168, 146, 174 9. 4.8, 5.5, 4.2, 8.9, 3.4, 7.5, 1.6, 3.8

✗
10. ERROR ANALYSIS Describe and correct the
error in finding the range of the data. 49, 48, 51, 41, 35, 44, 38

The range is 49 − 38, or 11.

Find the median, first quartile, third quartile, and interquartile range of the data.
2 11. 40, 33, 37, 54, 41, 34, 27, 39, 35 12. 84, 75, 90, 87, 99, 91, 85, 88, 76, 92, 94
13. 132, 127, 106, 140, 158, 135, 129, 138 14. 38, 55, 61, 56, 46, 67, 59, 75, 65, 58

Distances (feet)
15. PAPER AIRPLANE The table
1 1 3
shows the distances traveled by a 13— 21— 21 16—
2 2 4
paper airplane. Find and interpret the
1 1
range and the interquartile range of 10— 19 32 26—
4 2
the distances.
1 1 1
29 16— 28— 18—
4 2 2

416 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

 16. WRITING Consider a data set that has no mode. Which measure of variation
is greater, the range or the interquartile range? Explain your reasoning.
3 17. OUTLIERS Use the interquartile range to identify any outliers in
Exercises 11–14.
18. REASONING How does an outlier affect the range of a data set? Explain.
19. BASKETBALL The table shows the numbers of points scored by players on a
basketball team.

Points Scored
21 53 74 82 84 93
103 108 116 122 193

a. Find the range and the interquartile range of the data.

b. Use the interquartile range to identify the outlier(s) in the data set. Find the
range and the interquartile range of the data set without the outlier(s). Which
measure did the outlier(s) affect more?
20. STRUCTURE Two data sets have the same range. Can you assume that the
interquartile ranges of the two data sets are about the same? Give an example
to justify your answer.
21. SINGING The tables show the ages of the finalists for two
reality singing competitions.
a. Find the mean, median, range, and Ages for Ages for
interquartile range of the ages for Show A Show B
each show. Compare the results. 18 17 21 20
b. A 21-year-old is voted off Show A, 15 21 23 13
and the 36-year-old is voted off 22 16 15 18
Show B. How do these changes 18 28 17 22
affect the measures in part (a)? 24 21 36 25
Explain.

22. Create a set of data with 7 values that has

a mean of 30, a median of 26, a range of 50, and an
interquartile range of 36.

Find the mean of the data. (Section 9.2)

23. 8, 14, 22, 7, 2, 11, 25, 7, 5, 9 24. 55, 64, 58, 43, 49, 67

25. MULTIPLE CHOICE What is the surface area

2m
of the rectangular prism? (Section 8.2)
A 62 m2
○ B 72 m2
○ 4m
9m
C 88 m2
○ D 124 m2
○

Section 9.4 Measures of Variation 417

 9.5 Mean Absolute Deviation

How can you use the distances between each

data value and the mean of a data set to measure the spread of a data set?

Deviate
When you deviate from something, you stray or depart from the normal
course of action.

1 ACTIVITY: Finding Distances From the Mean

Work with a partner. The table shows the exam scores of 14 students in
your class.

Exam Scores
Ben 89 Mike 95
Emma 86 Hong 96
Jeremy 80 Rob 92
Pete 80 Amy 90
Ryan 96 Sue 76
Dan 94 Kim 84
Lucy 89 Heather 85
COMMON
CORE a. What is the mean exam score?
Statistics
In this lesson, you will b. Make a dot plot of the data. Place an “X” on the number line to represent
● understand the meaning of the mean.
mean absolute deviation.
● find the mean absolute
c. Is the number of exam scores that are greater than the mean equal to the
deviation of data sets. number of exam scores that are less than the mean? Explain.
Learning Standards
MACC.6.SP.1.2 d. Which exam score deviates the most from the mean? Which exam score
MACC.6.SP.1.3 deviates the least from the mean? Explain how you found your answers.
MACC.6.SP.2.5c
e. Overall, do you think the exam scores are close to the mean or far away
from the mean? Explain your reasoning.

418 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

 2 ACTIVITY: Using Distances from the Mean
Work with a partner. Use the information in Activity 1.
a. Complete the table below. Add rows if needed. Be sure to find the sum of
the values in the last column of the table.
Math
Practice Student with Score
Exam Score
Distance from
Less Than the Mean the Mean
Use Operations
What operation can
you use to find the
distance from the
mean? Explain.

Sum:

b. Create a table similar to the one above for students with scores
greater than the mean.
c. LOGIC What do you notice about the sums you found in your tables?
Why do you think this happens?

3 ACTIVITY: Interpreting Distances from the Mean

Work with a partner.
a. LOGIC Add the sums you found in your tables in Activity 2. Divide
that amount by the total number of students. Round your result to the
nearest tenth.
In your own words, what do you think this value represents?
b. REASONING In a data set, what do you think it means when the value
you found in part (a) is close to 0? Explain.

4. IN YOUR OWN WORDS How can you use the distances between each data
value and the mean of a data set to measure the spread of a data set?
5. REASONING Find the range and the interquartile range of the data set in
Activity 1. What do you think it means when these values are close to 0?
Explain.

Use what you learned about distances from the mean to complete
Exercises 3 and 4 on page 422.

Section 9.5 Mean Absolute Deviation 419

9.5 Lesson
Lesson Tutorials

Another measure of variation is the mean absolute deviation. The mean

Key Vocabulary absolute deviation is an average of how much data values differ from
mean absolute the mean.
deviation, p. 420

Finding the Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD)

Step 1: Find the mean of the data.
Step 2: Find the distance between each data value and the mean.
Step 3: Find the sum of the distances in Step 2.
Step 4: Divide the sum in Step 3 by the total number of data values.

EXAMPLE 1 Finding the Mean Absolute Deviation

You record the numbers of raisins in 8 scoops of cereal. Find and
interpret the mean absolute deviation of the data.
1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 5

1+2+2+2+4+4+4+5 24
Step 1: Mean = ——— = — = 3
8 8
Step 2: You can use a dot plot to organize the data. Replace each dot with
its distance from the mean.

Each data value of 4 is 1 unit from the mean.

1 1
1 1
2 1 1 2

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

The data value 1 is 2 units from the mean.

Step 3: The sum of the distances is 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 10.

10
Step 4: The mean absolute deviation is — = 1.25.
8

So, the data values differ from the mean by an average of 1.25 raisins.

1. Find and interpret the mean absolute deviation of the data.

Exercises 5–8
5, 8, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 22

420 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

 EXAMPLE 2 Real-Life Application
The smartphones show the numbers of runs allowed
by two pitchers in their last 10 starts.
a. Find the mean, median, and mean absolute
deviation of the numbers of runs allowed for
each pitcher.
Order the runs allowed for Mendoza:
0, 0, 0, 2, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 8.
35 4+4
Mean = — = 3.5 Median = — = 4
10 2

Mean absolute deviation:

3.5
3.5 0.5 2.5
3.5 1.5 0.5 1.5 2.5 4.5

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

24
The mean absolute deviation is — = 2.4
10

Order the runs allowed for Rodriguez: 0, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6.

35 4+4
Mean = — = 3.5 Median = — = 4
10 2
Mean absolute deviation:

0.5
1.5 0.5 1.5
3.5 1.5 0.5 0.5 1.5 2.5

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

14
The mean absolute deviation is — = 1.4.
10

b. Which measure can you use to distinguish the data? What can you
conclude about the pitchers from this measure?
Study Tip You cannot use the measures of center to distinguish the data
because they are the same for each data set. The measure of
The greater the mean
absolute deviation, the variation, MAD, is 2.4 for Mendoza and 1.4 for Rodriguez. This
greater the variation of indicates that the data for Rodriguez has less variation.
the data.
Using the MAD to distinguish the data, you can conclude that
Rodriguez is more consistent than Mendoza.

2. WHAT IF? Mendoza allows 4 runs in the next game. How would you
expect the mean absolute deviation to change? Explain.

Section 9.5 Mean Absolute Deviation 421

9.5 Exercises
Help with Homework

1. REASONING Describe a data set that has a mean absolute deviation of 0.

2. WHICH ONE DOESN’T BELONG? Which one does not belong with the other
three? Explain your reasoning.

range interquartile range mean mean absolute deviation

6)=3
9+(- 3)=
3+(- 9)=
4+(- =
1)
9+(-

Find the average distance each data value in the set is from the mean. Round
your answer to the nearest tenth, if necessary.
3. Model years of used cars on a lot: 2010, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2001
4. Prices of kites at a shop: $7, $20, $9, $35, $12, $15, $7, $10, $20, $25

Find and interpret the mean absolute deviation of the data. Round your answer
to the nearest tenth, if necessary.
1 5. Prices of Microphones 6. Heights of 10-Year-Old
(dollars) Octuplets (inches)
25 28 20 22 32 61 61 61 61
28 35 34 30 36 61 61 61 61

7. Capacities of Stadiums 8. Numbers of Visitors to a

(thousands of people) Website During a Week
101.5 95.4 109.8 103 115 124 125
98.7 92.3 104.7 171 165 170

9. ERROR ANALYSIS Describe

and correct the error in finding
the mean absolute deviation of
✗ 35 + 40 + 38 + 32 + 42 + 41
mean = ——— = 38
3+2+6+4+3
MAD = —— = 3.6
6

the data set 35, 40, 38, 32, 42, 5

and 41. So, the values differ from the mean by an
average of 3.6.

10. MUSEUMS The data set shows the admission prices

at several museums.
$20, $20, $16, $12, $15, $25, $11
Find and interpret the range, interquartile range,
and mean absolute deviation of the data.

422 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

11. MENU The table shows the prices Five Most-Expensive Five Least-Expensive
of the five most-expensive and Dishes Dishes
least-expensive dishes on a menu. $28 $30 $28 $39 $25 $7 $7 $10 $8 $12
Find the MAD of each data set.
Then compare their variations.
12. COINS The data sets show the years of the coins in two collections.
Derek’s collection: 1950, 1952, 1908, 1902, 1955, 1954, 1901, 1910
Paul’s collection: 1929, 1935, 1928, 1930, 1925, 1932, 1933, 1920
Find the measures of center and the measures of variation for each
data set. Compare the measures. What can you conclude?
13. PROBLEM SOLVING You survey students in your class about the number ber of
movies they watched last month. The results are shown in the table.

Movies Watched a. Find the measures of center and the measures of

variation for the data.
7 5 14 5
6 9 10 12 b. A new student joins the class who watched
15 4 5 8 21 movies last month. Is 21 an outlier? How does
including this value affect the measures of center
11 10 9 2
and the measures of variation? Explain.

REASONING Which data set do you think would have the greater mean absolute
deviation? Explain your reasoning.
14. guesses for number of gumballs in a jar 15. monthly rainfall amounts in a city
guesses for number of baseballs in a jar monthly amounts of water used in a home
16. REASONING The MAD of a data set is considered a more reliable measure of
variation than the range or the interquartile range. Why do you think this is true?

17. Add and subtract the MAD from the mean in the original data
set in Exercise 13.
a. What percent of the values are within one MAD of the mean? two MADs of
the mean? Which values are more than twice the MAD from the mean?
b. What do you notice as you get more and more MADs away from the
mean? Explain.

Find the mean, median, and mode(s) of the data. (Section 9.2 and Section 9.3)
18. 4, 6, 7, 9, 6, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 19. 1.2, 1.7, 1.7, 2.1, 1.4, 1.2, 1.9

20. MULTIPLE CHOICE What is the surface area of 9.2 yd

the square pyramid? (Section 8.3)
A 100.8 yd2
○ B 147.2 yd2
○
C 211.2 yd2
○ D 368 yd2
○
8 yd

Section 9.5 Mean Absolute Deviation 423

 9.4–9.5 Quiz
Progress Check

Find the range of the data. (Section 9.4)

1. 35, 76, 43, 58, 34, 67 2. 19, 21, 22, 22, 19, 25, 24, 23, 24

Find the median, first quartile, third quartile, and interquartile range of the data.
(Section 9.4)
3. 56, 48, 72, 37, 35, 42, 48, 33, 28 4. 95, 14, 86, 62, 55, 46, 28, 37, 33, 70, 31

Find and interpret the mean absolute deviation of the data. Round your answer
to the nearest tenth if necessary. (Section 9.5)
5. Ages of Television Show 6. Prices of Houses
Viewers (years) (thousands of dollars)
29 18 26 33 80 120 95 240 140
33 22 34 26 75 135 110 90 125

7. AMUSEMENT PARKS The data set

shows the admission prices at several
amusement parks.

$65, $70, $40, $55, $35, $40, $60

Find and interpret the range, interquartile

range, and mean absolute deviation of the
data. (Section 9.4 and Section 9.5)

8. TEACHING EXPERIENCE The tables show the years School A: School B:

of teaching experience of faculty members at two Teaching Teaching
schools. (Section 9.4) Experience Experience
(years) (years)
a. Find the mean, median, range, and interquartile
range of the years of experience for each school. 5 11 4 15
Compare the results. 10 22 6 12
7 8 10 33
b. The teacher with 11 years of experience leaves
School A, and the teacher with 33 years of 8 6 12 20
experience retires from School B. How does 10 35 8 7
this affect the measures in part (a)? Explain.

9. BOOK CLUB You survey the students in your book club about the number
of books they read last summer. The results are shown in the table.
(Section 9.4 and Section 9.5)

Books Read a. Find the measures of center and the measures of variation
8 14 15 9 for the data.
6 12 9 13 b. A new student who read 18 books last summer joins the club.
11 11 7 5 Is 18 an outlier? How does adding this value to the data set
12 6 10 8 affect the measures of center and variation? Explain.

424 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

9 Chapter Review
Vocabulary Help

Review Key Vocabulary

statistics, p. 392 median, p. 404 first quartile, p. 414
statistical question, p. 392 mode, p. 404 third quartile, p. 414
mean, p. 398 measure of variation, p. 414 interquartile range, p.414
outlier, p. 399 range, p. 414 mean absolute deviation,
measure of center, p. 404 quartiles, p. 414 p. 420

Review Examples and Exercises

9.1 Introduction to Statistics (pp. 390–395)

Display the data in a dot plot. Identify any Heights (inches)

clusters, peaks, or gaps in the data.
70 71 70 72 69
peak 68 69 71 64 70
gap
cluster
64 63 72 70 67
Height
(inches)
63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72

Display the data in a dot plot. Identify any clusters, peaks, or gaps in the data.
1. Distance (feet) 2. Weight (pounds)
56 55 56 57 83 88 89 90 89
58 54 51 55 91 89 84 90 92
51 56 49 56 90 88 89 83 88

9.2 Mean (pp. 396–401)

Find the mean of 5, 9, 10, 6, 6, and 12.

5 + 9 + 10 + 6 + 6 + 12 sum of the data

mean = ——
6
number of values
48
= —, or 8 Simplify.
6

Find the mean of the data.

3. 4, 5, 7, 14, 17, 12, 18 4. 15, 5, 8, 12, 5, 9, 4, 10, 2, 11

Chapter Review 425

 9.3 Measures of Center (pp. 402–409)

Find the median and the mode of the movie lengths in the table.
Order the data from least to greatest.
Movie Lengths Median: Mode:
(minutes) 91, 92, 112, 112, 122, 126, 142, 144 91, 92, 112, 112, 122, 126, 142, 144
91 112 126
142 122 112 112 + 122 234
— = —, or 117 The value 112 occurs most often.
2 2
92 144
The median is 117 minutes, and the mode is 112 minutes.

Find the median and the mode(s) of the data.

5. 8, 8, 6, 8, 4, 5, 6 6. 24, 74, 61, 29, 38, 27, 68, 54

9.4 Measures of Variation (pp. 412–417)

The table shows the weights of several adult emperor

penguins. (a) Find and interpret the range. (b) Find and Weights (kilograms)
interpret the interquartile range. (c) Check for outliers. 25 27
a. Ordered from least to greatest, the weights are 23.5, 36 23.5
24, 25, 27, 29.25, 30.75, 31.25, 32, 33.5, and 36. 33.5 31.25
So, the range of the weights is 36 − 23.5, or 30.75 32
12.5 kilograms. The weights vary by no more 24 29.25
than 12.5 kilograms.
b. Find the quartiles.

29.25 + 30.75
Median: —— = 30
2

lower half upper half

23.5, 24, 25, 27, 29.25, 30.75, 31.25, 32, 33.5, 36

Q1: 25 Q3: 32

So, the interquartile range is 32 − 25 = 7. This means that

the middle half of the weights vary by no more than 7 kilograms.
c. Calculate the outlier boundaries.
Q1 − 1.5(IQR) = 25 − 1.5(7) = 14.5
Q3 + 1.5(IQR) = 32 + 1.5(7) = 42.5
There are no weights less than 14.5 kilograms or greater than 42.5 kilograms.
So, the data set has no outliers.

426 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

 Find the range of the data.
7. 45, 76, 98, 21, 52, 39 8. 95, 63, 52, 8, 93, 16, 42, 37, 62

Find the median, first quartile, third quartile, and interquartile range of the data.
9. 28, 46, 25, 76, 18, 25, 47, 83, 44 10. 14, 25, 97, 55, 66, 28, 92, 38, 94

9.5 Mean Absolute Deviation (pp. 418–423)

You record the prices of 8 printers.

Find and interpret the mean absolute
deviation of the data.

$120, $150, $90, $110,

$140, $120, $140, $90

120 + 150 + 90 + 110 + 140 + 120 + 140 + 90 960

Step 1: Mean = ———— = — = 120
8 8

Step 2: Use a dot plot to organize the data. Replace each dot with its
distance from the mean.

The data value 110 is 10 units from the mean.

30 0 20
30 10 0 20 30

90 100 110 120 130 140 150 90 100 110 120 130 140 150

Each data value of 140 is 20 units from the mean.

Step 3: The sum of the distances is 30 + 30 + 10 + 0 + 0 + 20 + 20 + 30 = 140.

140
Step 4: The mean absolute deviation is — = 17.50.
8

The data values differ from the mean by an average of $17.50.

Find and interpret the mean absolute deviation of the data. Round your answer
to the nearest tenth if necessary.
11. Shoe Sizes 12. Prices of Monitors
6 8.5 6 9 (dollars)
10 7 8 9.5 130 150 190 100 175
120 165 140 180 190

Chapter Review 427

 9 Chapter Test
Test Practice

Display the data in a dot plot. Identify any clusters, peaks, or

gaps in the data.
1. Time (minutes) 2. Temperature (°F)
33 40 32 40 81 81 80 82 81
39 38 40 39 83 76 83 76 80
38 39 39 33 75 83 82 82 81

Find the mean, median and mode(s) of the data.

3. 2, 7, 7, 12, 4 4. 4, 5, 7, 5, 9, 9, 10, 6

Find the mean, median, and mode(s) of the data. Choose the measure
that best represents the data. Explain your reasoning.
5. 5, 6, 4, 24, 18 6. 46, 27, 94, 56, 53, 65, 43

Find the range of the data.

7. 24, 56, 9, 83, 77, 14 8. 43, 12, 55, 91, 25, 86, 84, 23, 1

Find the median, first quartile, third quartile, and interquartile range of the data.
9. 32, 58, 19, 36, 44, 57, 11, 26, 74 10. 36, 24, 49, 32, 37, 28, 38, 40, 39

Find and interpret the mean absolute deviation of the data. Round your answer
to the nearest tenth if necessary.
11. Distances Driven (miles) 12. Prices of Sunglasses
312 286 196 201 (dollars)

158 225 206 192 15 8 19 20 18

20 22 14 10 15

13. HOTEL The table shows the numbers of guests Numbers of Guests
at a hotel on different days.
66 58 90 57 63 55
a. Find the range and the interquartile range of 60 62 56 54 72
the data.
b. Use the interquartile range to identify the outlier(s) in the data set. Find
the range and the interquartile range of the data set without the outlier(s).
Which measure did the outlier(s) affect more?

14. JOBS The data sets show the numbers of hours worked each week by two
friends for several weeks.

Greg’s hours: 9, 18, 12, 6, 9, 21, 3, 12

Tom’s hours: 12, 18, 15, 16, 14, 12, 15, 18

Find the measures of center and the measures of variation for each data set.
Compare the measures. What can you conclude?

428 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

9 Standards Assessment
Test-Takin
g Strateg
Use Intell y
1. What is the value of the expression below? igent Gue
ssing
(MACC.6.NS.1.1)
4 2
8— ÷ 4—
9 3

17 8
A. 1 — C. 32 —
21 27
2 11
B. 2 — D. 39 —
3 27

2. What is the value of the expression below?

(MACC.6.NS.2.3)

4.18 + 6.225 + 5.7 “The me

a
So, you n can’t be 6 o
can use r
find tha intellige 2 or 5 inches.
F. 15.005 H. 16.005 t the an nt gues
swer is sing to
ft, or 4 in
.”
G. 15.105 I. 16.105

3. One number is missing from the data set in the box below.

18, 24, 22, 30, 26, ____, 25

The median of the data set is 24. What is the greatest possible value of
the missing number? (MACC.6.SP.2.5c)

4. The number of hours that each of 6 students spent reading last week is
shown in the bar graph below.

Hours Spent Reading

14
12
12
10 10
Hours read

10
8 7
6
6
4 3
2
0
Arnie Betsy Chan Donna Elena Frankie
Student

For the data in the bar graph, which measure is the least? (MACC.6.SP.2.5c)
A. mean C. mode

B. median D. range

Standards Assessment 429

 5. You go to a beach and collect buckets of shells. Of the many shells you have
collected, you notice the following.

● 9% of the seashells are auger shells.

1
● — of the seashells are coquina shells.
8
● 11% of the seashells are rough scallop shells.
● 0.1 of the seashells are fighting conch shells.

Which list correctly shows the types of shells in order from least to
greatest? (MACC.6.NS.3.6c)
F. auger, coquina, rough scallop, fighting conch

G. fighting conch, coquina, auger, rough scallop

H. fighting conch, auger, rough scallop, coquina

I. auger, fighting conch, rough scallop, coquina

6. What is the mean absolute deviation of the data shown in the line plot,
rounded to the nearest tenth? (MACC.6.SP.2.5c)

1 2 3 4 5 6

A. 1.4 C. 3.2

B. 3 D. 5

7. A family wants to buy tickets to a theme park. There are separate ticket prices
for adults and children.

Which expression represents the total cost, in dollars, for a adult tickets
and c child tickets? (MACC.6.EE.1.2a)
F. 600( a + c) H. 30a + 20c

G. 50( a × c) I. 30a × 20c

430 Chapter 9 Statistical Measures

 8. What is the value of the expression below? (MACC.6.NS.2.3)

52.8 ÷ 0.16

9. What is the value of the expression below when a = 6 and

b = 14? (MACC.6.EE.1.2c)

0.8a + 0.02b

A. 0.4828 C. 5.08

B. 0.8814 D. 16.4

10. Which property was not used in the box below to simplify the expression?
(MACC.6.EE.1.3)

0.3 × 53 + 53 × 0.7 = 53 × 0.3 + 53 × 0.7

= 53 × (0.3 + 0.7)
= 53 × 1
= 53

F. Distributive Property

G. Associative Property of Addition

H. Identity Property of Multiplication

I. Commutative Property of Multiplication

11. Determine a data set of 5 numbers that has the following measures:

● a mean of 7 and
● a median of 9.
Explain how you determined your data set. Then demonstrate that the mean of
your data set is 7 and the median is 9. (MACC.6.SP.2.5c)

12. What is the value of the expression below? (MACC.6.RP.1.3c)

25% of 400

A. 16 C. 1000

B. 100 D. 10,000

Standards Assessment 431