Statistics 7

Quarter 2 – Module 1:

MEASURES OF LOCATION

Lesson
Measure of Position
1

Measure of Central Tendency is a measure of location, indicating

the center of a given data. Recall the median is the value where 50% 𝟓𝟎%
of the distribution falls or lies above it while 50% of the distribution
lies below it. Median

Example: 𝟓𝟎%
What is the median of this set of scores? 8, 6, 2, 9, 12, 15, 1, 5, 8
Arranging the scores in ascending order, we have 1 2 5 6 8 8 9 12 15

The median and percentiles are measures of position or location. To determine

the position or location of a particular data, we divide the set of data into equal
parts.

Fractiles are numbers that partition or divide an ordered data set into equal parts.

Common Types of Fractiles

Type of Fractiles
Median This fractile divide the set of data into 2 equal parts
Quartile This fractile divide the set of data into 4 equal parts
Decile This fractile divide the set of data into 10 equal parts
Percentile This fractile divide the set of data into 100 equal parts
Measure of Position in Ungrouped Data
The table shows Gino’s score in the National Career
Assessment Examination
Percentile
Areas Standard Score
Rank
General Scholastic
Aptitude
Scientific Ability 460.50 48
Reading Comprehension 670.68 94
Verbal Ability 726.57 99
Mathematical Ability 591.72 56
Overall GSA 612.37 84

Questions:
1. What is the percentile rank of Gino’s score in Verbal Ability?
𝑃99 = 726.57
If we are to interpret what we have in the table, it means that the score of
726.57 is greater than the scores of 99% of the students who took NCAE.

2. If the percentile rank of Gino’s score in Scientific Ability is 48, does this mean
that he answered 48% of the total items in the test correctly?
This means that 𝑃48 = 460.50
If we are to interpret what we have in the table, it means that the score of
460.50 is greater than the scores of 48% of the students who took NCAE.

3. If 1.3 million students took NCAE, how many students obtained a Verbal
Ability score that are lower than Gino’s score.
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤
We follow the formula 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑘 = ( ) 100.
𝑁
? ?
99 = (1 300 000) 100 99 = (1 300 000) 100 99 × 13 000 = ?
1 287 000 = ?
Another way of doing the process of computation.
? = 1 300 000 × 0.99 = 1 287 000
We can say that there are 1 287 000 students obtained a score that is lower
than Gino’s score in Verbal Ability .

Percentiles are values that divide a set of data into 100 equal parts. These values
are denoted by 𝑃1, 𝑃2 , 𝑃3 ,…, 𝑃99. For example, the value of 𝑃50 (the median) means
50% of the data have lower values than 𝑃50.

A percentile rank is the proportion of scores in a distribution that is below a

specific score. To illustrate, if Gino obtained a percentile rank of 48 in scientific
ability, this means that his score of 460.50 is greater than the scores of 48% of the
students who took the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE).

PERCENTILE FORMULA
This is the general formula for determining the position of any percentile in the
ordered set of data:
𝑘𝑛 1 𝑡ℎ
The 𝑘 𝑡ℎ percentile score if the ( + ) score. That is, the position of the score at
100 2
𝑘𝑛 1
the 𝑘 𝑡ℎ percentile is + 2, where 𝑛 is the number of data in the set.
100
Example: The height (in cm) of twelve students were measured as follows:
Names Maria Bea Cathy Peter Paolo Carlo Nena Raymond Juan Leah Janet John

Height 148 157 152 166 164 161 150 160 165 159 140 155

Questions:

1. Who stands in the middle of the line?

We need to arrange the data in an array. Let us arrange this in ascending
order.
Bea Leah

140 148 150 152 155 157 159 160 161 164 165 166

2. What height is the median or the 50th percentile rank?

157 + 160
𝑥̃ = = 158
2
So the median is the height of 158 cm.

3. 70% of the students are shorter than what height?

𝑘𝑛 1 𝑡ℎ
Let’s use the formula 𝑃𝑘 = (100 + 2) since we know that 70% can be written as
𝑃70 then we can look for the 70th percentile.
𝑘𝑛 1 𝑡ℎ (70)(12) 1 𝑡ℎ
𝑃70 = ( + ) =( + ) = 8.9𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
100 2 100 2

Since we don’t have 8.9𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 we need to look at the array we created earlier.
We know that 8.9th position is between the 8th position and 9th position so let
us locate what values are in those positions.
8th 9th
140 148 150 152 155 157 159 160 161 164 165 166

On the 8th position we have 160 and on the 9th position we have 161. Thus, we
need to interpolate.

Linear Interpolation
𝑋(𝑖.𝑗) = 𝑋𝑖 + (𝑖. 𝑗 − 𝑖)(𝑋𝑖+1 − 𝑋𝑖 )
𝑘𝑛 1 𝑡ℎ
𝑃𝑘 = (100 + 2) 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 = 𝑋(𝑖.𝑗) where 𝑖 is the integral part and 𝑗 is the decimal part.
The score 𝑋(𝑖.𝑗) is the 𝑘 𝑡ℎ percentile and is found in the 𝑖. 𝑗 𝑡ℎ position in the ordered
data set.

Interpolation: 𝑃70 = 8𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 + 0.9(9𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 8𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒)
𝑃70 = 160 + 0.9(161 − 160) = 160 + 0.9(1) = 160 + 0.9 = 160.9

The height of 160.9 cm is taller than 70% of those who were measured.

4. What height is at the 25th percentile rank?

25th percentile rank means we are looking for 𝑃25 .
 𝑘𝑛 1 𝑡ℎ (25)(12) 1 𝑡ℎ
𝑃25 =( + ) =( + ) = 3.5𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
100 2 100 2

Since we don’t have 3.5𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 we need to look at the array we created earlier.
We know that 3.5th position is between the 3rd position and 4th position so let
us locate what values are in those positions.
3rd 4th
140 148 150 152 155 157 159 160 161 164 165 166

On the 3rd position we have 150 and on the 4th position we have 152. Thus, we
need to interpolate.

Interpolation: 𝑃25 = 3𝑟𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 + 0.5(4𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 3𝑟𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒)
𝑃70 = 150 + 0.9(152 − 150) = 150 + 0.5(2) = 150 + 1 = 151

The height of 151 cm is taller than 25% of those who were measured.

Exercises:
1. The following are the weights (in kg) of 15 students:
50 48 39 40 49 50.5 38.4 43 45 47 48 48 38 52 51.8
Find the median and the 85th percentile.

2. The following are the weights (in kg) of 15 students:

50 48 39 40 49 50.5 38.4 43 45 47 48 48 38 52 51.8
Find the percentile rank of 50 kg.
𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤
Solution: 𝑘 = ( ) ∙ 100
𝑁

DECILE FORMULA
The general formula for determining the position of any decile in the ordered set
of data:
𝑘𝑛 1 𝑡ℎ
The 𝑘 𝑡ℎ decile score if (10 + 2) score. That is, the position of the score at the
𝑘𝑛 1
𝑘 𝑡ℎ decile is 10
+ 2 , where n is the number of data in the set.

Examples:
A quiz has 20 items. The following are the scores of 30 students.
18 15 10 12 20 20 15 12 10 8 5 12 15 16 18
20 8 7 9 6 20 19 19 13 11 10 17 14 12 11
1. What score is at the 7th decile?
2. At which decile is the score of 15?
3. What score is at the 9th decile?
4. At which decile is the score of 19?

QUARTILE FORMULA
This is the general formula for determining the position of any quartile in the
ordered set of data:
𝑘𝑛 1 𝑡ℎ
The 𝑘 𝑡ℎ quartile score if the ( + ) score. That is, the position of the score at the
4 2
𝑘𝑛 1
𝑘 𝑡ℎ quartile is + 2, where 𝑛 is the number of data in the set.
4
Example:
The list shows the number of bottles of strawberry jam sold
in a day by 14 different vendors.
20 18 16 10 12 15 13 9 11 16 15 16 18 20

1. What is the 3rd quartile?

2. What percent of the distribution fall under this scale?

References

Acelajedo, Belecina, & Blay (1999). Mathematics for the New Millennium. Diwa
Scholastic Press Incorporation, 1999.

Cruz, Gorospe, Mercado, Leopando, G., & Leopndo, I., (2009) Statistics and
Probability Theory.

Vargas, Reverie I. (2019). Spiral Mathematics for Growth Mindset. Innovative

Materials, Inc., 2019.