Understanding
1 What is an outlier?
2 When an outlier is removed from a data set, describe the effect on the following:
a Mode b Range
3 For each of the following scenarios, an outlier was removed. Was the outlier smaller or larger
than the values that remain?
a The mean decreased after the outlier was removed.
b The mean increased after the outlier was removed.
c The median decreased after the outlier was removed.
d The median increased after the outlier was removed.
Fluency
4 Identify the outlier for each of the following data sets:
a 9, 10, 12, 9, 1 b 54, 52, 99, 50, 57
c 104, 115, 275, 109, 118, 121 d 4.0, 3.5, 5.1, 2.4, 1.6, 3.9, 3.5, 3.1
Example 1
5 Consider the given frequency table:
Weight in kilograms Frequency
a What is the mode?
14 1
b Which weight is the outlier?
15 0
c If the outlier is removed, what is the new
mode? 16 0
d Compare the mode before and after 17 3
removing the outlier. 18 6
19 4
20 2
6 Consider the following frequency table:
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a Which weight is an outlier? Weight
Weight in
in kilograms
kilograms Frequency
Frequency
b If the outlier is removed, what is the new 12 2
mean? Round your answer to one
decimal place if needed. 13 5
c If the outlier is removed, is the new 14 1
mean higher or lower than the current 15 2
mean?
16 0
17 0
18 1
7 For each scenario, decide if the range would increase, decrease, or stay the same:
a If 25 is added to the data set:
1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4
b If 10 is removed from the data set:
10, 42, 55, 60, 65, 70
c If 5 and 27 are removed from the data set:
5, 12, 12, 13, 15, 15, 27
d If 1 is added to the data set:
24, 25, 25, 26
8 Consider the data set shown in the
frequency table: Score Frequency
Suppose one score of 8 is changed to a 9. 1 1
Decide whether each of the following
2 2
would change or not:
4 2
a Mean
5 1
b Median
6 2
c Mode
8 3
d Range
9 2
9 For each of the following sets of data:
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i Find the mean, median, mode, and range. Round your answers to two decimal places
where necessary.
ii Which data value is an outlier?
iii Remove the outlier from the set and recalculate the values found in part (i).
iv Describe how each of the four statistics changed after removing the outlier.
a 27, 50, 24, 37, 47, 41, 27, 126, 44, 27
b 4.7, 2.8, 1.9, 0.9, 0.9, 2.2, 2.2, 1.2, 1.5, 0.9
c 4700, 4700, 4700, 4500, 5300, 4900, 5200, 4800, 1500, 5100
Example 2
Reasoning
10 The five numbers 16, 16, 17, 24, 17 have a mean of 18 and a median of 17. Describe the effect
on the mean and median if a new number is added that is larger than 24.
11 Carl has been recording his spelling test scores for the past semester. His scores were:
14, 16, 2, 15, 15, 16, 15
a Calculate the median of Carl's scores.
b Calculate the mean of Carl's scores, to two decimal places.
c Which measure of centre most accurately describes the centre of this data set? Explain
your answer.
12 A journalist wanted to report on road speed cameras being used as revenue raisers. She
obtained data that showed the number of times 20 speed cameras issued a fine to motorists
in one month. The results were:
101, 102, 115, 115, 121, 124, 127, 128, 130, 130,
143, 143, 146, 162, 162, 163, 178, 183, 194, 977
The journalist wants to give the impression that speed cameras are just being used to raise
revenue. Which measure of centre should she use in her article? Explain your answer.
13 The selling prices of artworks sold at an auction are given below:
$18 000, $11 000, $17 000, $20 000, $18 000, $16 000, $15 000, $218 000
Which measure of centre best identifies the typical selling price of recently sold artwork?
Explain your answer.
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14 Ted is an employee who works for a company and currently gets paid $26 000 annually.
Here is the breakdown of all the employees' salaries at the company he works for in a
frequency table:
Annual income Number of employees
$26 000 4
$58 000 10
$62 000 5
$150 000 3
$400 000 1
a Would the owner of the company use the mean, median, or mode to describe the
company's annual pay? Why?
b Would Ted use the mean, median, or mode to describe the company's annual pay? Why?
c Would a mathematician who is not involved with the company use the mean, median, or
mode to describe the company's annual pay? Why?
Problem-solving
15 The selling prices of six houses are:
$467 000, $413 000, $410 000,
$456 000, $487 000, $929 000
a What is the median selling price? Round your answer to the nearest thousand dollars.
b What is the mean selling price? Round your answer to the nearest thousand dollars.
c Which measure of centre most accurately represents the centre of the data?
d Which of the selling prices appears to be an outlier?
e Recalculate the mean selling price, without the outlier.
16 The weight of fish caught in a "weigh and release" fishing competition, in kilograms are
given below:
12.5, 15.1, 13, 14.2, 14.5, 14.9, 12.5, 14.3, 1.5
a Find the mean weight.
b Find the median weight.
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c Recalculate the mean weight excluding the outlier.
d Recalculate the median weight excluding the outlier.
17 A group in a study volunteer to take a test that assesses their reaction time. The participants
clicked a button as soon as they heard a sound which was played at random intervals. The
reaction time, in milliseconds, of each participant is shown below:
220, 280, 210, 220, 215, 180, 185, 190, 190, 195, 150, 190, 195, 195
a Identify any outliers.
b Which of the following is the most likely explanation for the outlier?
A The participant was not focused. B The sound took longer to play.
C The participant missed the button. D The timer malfunctioned.
18 The number of three-pointers scored in
different basketball games by a single team Three-pointers Frequency
are shown in the table.
0 2
Describe the effect on each measure if the
1 4
outlier is removed:
2 5
a Mean b Median
3 3
c Mode d Range
4 2
5 2
6 2
10 1
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