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Statistics: Median, Mode and Frequency Distribution
Statistics: Median, Mode and Frequency Distribution
The median is the middle value of a list. It is the smallest number such
that at least half the numbers in the list are no greater than it. If the list has
an odd number of entries, the median is the middle entry in the list after
sorting the list into increasing order. If the list has an even number of
entries, the median is equal to the sum of the two middle (after sorting)
numbers divided by two.
The mode is the most common (frequent) value. A list can have more than
one mode.
The Midpoint x1 of a group: for example the midpoint of the class interval
14.0 14.9 is
x1
14.0 14.9
14.45
2
Class interval of 1%
12.0 12.9
13.0 13.9
14.0 14.9
15.0 15.9
16.0 16.9
17.0 17.9
18.0 18.9
19.0 19.9
20.0 20.9
21.0 21.9
22.0 22.9
23.0 23.9
You can also get the mean and the standard deviation from a frequency
distribution:
-
f x
f
1
f x x
f
1
Using the formulae above, the mean and the standard deviation in our
example are
so that
x 18.25
f x x
f
1
so that
4.893 2.212 .
It is essential to know how to interpret your answers. Imagine that you have a
job involving stats and that your boss ask you to make a survey of the time
spend by the employees in front of the coffee machine. If one month later, you
end in a report saying well, the mean is 10 and the standard deviation is 1
he might not be very impressed.
Now, back to the example and lets try to interpret the results:
In a sample of 30 plastic clay test specimens, we found that the mean is
18.25 and the standard deviation is 2.212.
A plastic clay test specimen therefore shrinks on average by 18.25% and
since the standard deviation is rather small, we expect the percentage
shrinkage of any given specimen to be, on average, close to 18.25%.