Statistics

Data are measurements or observations that are

gathered for an event under study.
Statistics is the branch of mathematics that involves
collecting, organizing, summarizing, and presenting
data and drawing general conclusions from the data.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Populations and Samples
When statistical studies are performed, we usually
begin by identifying the population for the study.
A population consists of all subjects under study.
(i.e. all colleges in the United States)
More often than not, it’s not realistic to gather data
from every member of a population.
A sample is a representative subgroup or subset of
a population.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Descriptive Statistics
There are two main branches of statistics:
descriptive and inferential.
Statistical techniques used to describe data are
called descriptive statistics. This is based on
collecting, organizing, and reporting data without
using the data to draw any wide-ranging
conclusions.
For example, a researcher might be interested in the
average age of the full-time students on your
campus and how many credit hours they’re
scheduled for this term.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Inferential Statistics
Statistical techniques used to make inferences are
called inferential statistics. This is based on
studying characteristics of a sample within a larger
population and using them to draw conclusions
about the entire population.
For example, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics
estimates the number of people in the United States
that are unemployed every month. Since it would be
impossible to survey everyone, the bureau picks a
sample of adults to see what percentage are
unemployed. Then they use that information to
estimate the unemployment rate for the entire
population.
©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Frequency Distributions
The data collected for a statistical study are called
raw data. In order to describe situations and draw
conclusions, we need to organize the data in a
meaningful way.
Two methods that we will use are frequency
distributions and stem and leaf plots.
The first type of frequency distribution we will
investigate is the categorical frequency distribution.
This is used when the data are categorical rather
than numerical.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 2 Constructing a Frequency
Distribution (1 of 3)
Twenty-five volunteers for a medical research study
were given a blood test to obtain their blood types.
The data follow. Construct a frequency distribution
for the data.
A, B, B, AB, O,
O, O, B, AB, B,
B, B, O, A, O,
AB, A, O, B, A,
A, O, O, O, AB
©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 2 Constructing a Frequency
Distribution (2 of 3)
SOLUTION
Step 1 Make a table with all categories represented.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 2 Constructing a Frequency
Distribution (3 of 3)
SOLUTION
Step 2 Tally the data using the second column.
Step 3 Count the tallies and place the numbers in the third
column.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Grouped Frequency Distributions (1 of 2)
Another type of frequency distribution that can be
constructed uses numerical data and is called a
grouped frequency distribution. In a grouped
frequency distribution, the numerical data are
divided into classes.
For example, if you gathered data on the weights of
people in your class, there’s a decent chance that no
two people have the exact same weight. So it would
be reasonable to group people into weight ranges,
like 100–119 pounds, 120–139 pounds, and so forth.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Grouped Frequency Distributions (2 of 2)
When deciding on classes for a grouped frequency
distribution, here are some guidelines:
1. Try to keep the number of classes between 5 and 15.
2. Make sure the classes do not overlap.
3. Don’t leave out any numbers between the lowest and
highest, even if nothing falls into a particular class.
4. Make sure the range of numbers included in a class is the
same for each one.
5. The beginning and ending values have to be chosen based
on how the data values are rounded.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 3 Constructing a Frequency
Distribution (1 of 4)
These data represent the record-high temperatures
for each of the 50 states in degrees Fahrenheit.
Construct a grouped frequency distribution for the
data.

112 100 128 120 134 118 106 110 109 112
100 118 117 116 118 121 114 114 105 109
107 112 114 115 118 117 118 125 106 110
122 108 110 121 113 120 119 111 104 113
120 113 120 117 105 110 118 112 114 115

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 3 Constructing a Frequency
Distribution (2 of 4)
SOLUTION
Step 1 Subtract the lowest value from the highest value:
134 − 100 = 34.
Step 2 If we use a length of 5 degrees, that will give us
seven classes, since the entire range (34 degrees) divided by
5 is 6.8. This is certainly not the only choice for the number
of classes: if we choose a range of 4 degrees, there will be
nine classes.
Step 3 Start with the lowest value and add 5 to get the
lower class limits: 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130. Notice
that all of the data are rounded to the nearest whole
number, so that’s reflected in our choices of class limits.
©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 3 Constructing a Frequency
Distribution (3 of 4)
SOLUTION continued
Step 4 Set up the classes. To find the
upper limit for each, subtract one
from the next upper limit.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 3 Constructing a Frequency
Distribution (4 of 4)
SOLUTION continued
Step 5 Tally the data
and record the
frequencies. It’s a really
good idea to cross out
each data value as you
tally it up, and an even
better idea to make
sure that all of the
frequencies add up to
the total number of
data values.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Stem and Leaf Plots
Another way to organize data is to use a stem and
leaf plot (sometimes called a stem plot).
Each data value or number is separated into two
parts. The very last digit is called the leaf, and what
comes before is called the stem.
For a two-digit number such as 53, 5 is the stem, and 3 is the
leaf. For the number 72, the stem is 7, and the leaf is 2. For
a three-digit number such as 138, the first two digits, 13, are
used as the stem, and the third digit, 8, is used as the leaf.
For values rounded to the tenths place, like 8.4, you can use
the value to the left of the decimal place as stem and the
tenths place as leaf.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 4 Drawing a Stem and Leaf Plot
(1 of 5)
The data below are the July 2015 unemployment
rates for each state. Draw a stem and leaf plot
illustrating these data.

6.2 6.6 6.3 5.4 6.1 4.2 5.3 4.9 5.3 5.9
3.5 4.2 5.6 4.6 3.7 4.6 5.2 6.0 4.5 5.1
4.7 5.1 4.0 6.3 5.6 4.1 2.8 6.8 3.6 5.7
6.7 5.2 5.9 2.9 4.7 4.6 6.1 5.4 5.6 6.0
3.7 5.7 4.1 3.7 3.6 4.5 5.3 7.6 4.5 4.0

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 4 Drawing a Stem and Leaf Plot
(2 of 5)
SOLUTION
The data values range from
2.8 to 7.6, so we’ll use the
whole number parts as
stems and the tenths place
as leaves. The stems will
range from 2 to 7, so we
begin our setup like this:

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 4 Drawing a Stem and Leaf Plot
(3 of 5)
SOLUTION continued
Now we go through the data values one-by-one, writing the
appropriate leaf next to the matching stem. For 6.2, we put
leaf 2 next to stem 6. For 3.7, we put leaf 7 next to stem 3.
Continue in this manner until all the data values have been
entered. Once again, it’s a good idea to cross out the data
values as you enter them on the plot, then count when
finished to make sure that you have the right number of
values.
Also, from looking at the plot, you can’t tell if the data
value with stem 6 and leaf 2 means 6.2, 62, or something
else, so we put a key at the bottom of the plot to clarify.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 4 Drawing a Stem and Leaf Plot
(4 of 5)
SOLUTION continued

Jump to long description

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 4 Drawing a Stem and Leaf Plot
(5 of 5)
SOLUTION continued
The last step isn’t strictly necessary, but many folks prefer
stem and leaf plots with the data in order, so we’ll rearrange
the leaves corresponding to each stem from smallest to
largest.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 5 Building a Stem and Leaf Plot
with Divided Categories (1 of 3)
In general, it’s a good idea to choose stems so that
there are between 5 and 15 categories. In the case
of the high-temperature data, we’d get a better
organization if we divided the categories in half, so
that the first category covers 100 to 104, the second
105 to 109, and so on.
Build a stem and leaf plot for the high temperature
data in Example 3. Divide each natural category
into two halves.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 5 Building a Stem and Leaf Plot
with Divided Categories (2 of 3)
SOLUTION
What we’re really doing here is using the same categories we
did for the frequency distribution in Example 3. The main
issue is that we need a way to represent this in the plot. For
the values that have stem 10 in our first attempt at the
plot, we’ll write 10(0) and 10(5) to represent the values
from 100 to 104, and the values from 105 to 109.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
EXAMPLE 5 Building a Stem and Leaf Plot
with Divided Categories (3 of 3)
SOLUTION
continued
Here’s the
resulting plot,
with the leaves
arranged in
numerical order.
Notice the
appropriate
additions to the
key at the bottom
of the plot.

Jump to long description

©McGraw-Hill Education.