MAP4C 4.
4.1 – Interpreting One-Variable Statistics
Learning Goals: To analyze one variable statistics by finding the measures of central tendency and the
measures of spread
Success Criteria: To be successful in this lesson, I can:
____ Find the measures of central tendency including mean, median and mode
____ Find the measures of spread including the range, the quartiles and percentiles
____ Interpret a percentile and determine which data value applies to a person in that percentile
____ See which measure of central tendency would be most accurate for different situations
Measures of Central Tendency
Mean: the average (add up all the values and divide by the # of values in the data set)
Median: the value that lies in the middle of sorted data (sorted means in order)
Mode: the value that occurs most frequently within the data
Example 1: The 14 students in Jesse’s math class measured their heights to the nearest centimetre.
16
178 167 180 168 157 164 250 153 182 176 165 175 167
0
a) Determine the measures of central tendency for this set of data.
Mean
Median Must first put the numbers in order:
153 157 160 164 165 167 167 168 175 176 178 180 182 250
Mode
b) Which values seem like an outlier? Which measure of central tendency is the least accurate because of
this?
c) What percent of the class is shorter than the mean?
153 157 160 164 165 167 167 168 175 176 178 180 182 250
d) Ryan is taller than 65% of the class. How many students are shorter than him? What is his height?
153 157 160 164 165 167 167 168 175 176 178 180 182 250
MAP4C 4.1
Measures of Spread
1. Range: a measure of spread from the lowest data value to the highest data value
The highest data value minus the lowest data value
2. Percentiles: tells what percent of the data are less than a particular data value
• n% of the data are less than or equal to the nth percentile
• For example: Ryan was taller than 65% of the class. That means that he is in the 65th percentile.
• To find a value in a percentile:
o Multiply the number of data values by the percentage from the percentile as a decimal
o If you get a decimal, always round up
3. Quartiles: values that divide a set of sorted data into four equal parts
Example 2: Continuing with the sorted height data from example 1
153 157 160 164 165 167 167 168 175 176 178 180 182 250
a) What is the range of the data?
b) What are the quartiles?
c) If Jamal’s height is in the 90th percentile, what does that mean? How tall is Jamal?
153 157 160 164 165 167 167 168 175 176 178 180 182 250
d) If Erin’s height is in the 30th percentile, what does that mean? How tall is Erin?
153 157 160 164 165 167 167 168 175 176 178 180 182 250
e) If the outlier was removed, what would the range and quartiles be?
153 157 160 164 165 167 167 168 175 176 178 180 182 250
MAP4C 4.1
Homework: Page 201 #1, 3, 7, 9 14ab
