SECTION 2

MATHEMATICS AS A TOOL
Chapter 7. Data Management
Descriptive Statistics
Core Idea
Statistical tools derived from
mathematics are useful in processing
and managing numerical data in order
to describe a phenomenon and predict
values
�Statistics involves the collection, organization,
summarization, presentation, and interpretation of
data.

�The branch of statistics that involves the collection,

organization, summarization, and presentation of
data is called descriptive statistics.

�The branch that interprets and draws conclusions

from the data is called inferential statistics.
Measures of Central Tendency
� One of the most basic statistical concepts involves finding
measures of central tendency of a set of numerical data.
Here is a scenario in which it would be helpful to find
numerical values that locate, in some sense, the center of a
set of data.
� Stacy is a senior at a university. In a few months she plans to
graduate and start a career as a landscape architect. A
survey of five landscape architects from last year’s senior
class shows that they received job offers with the following
yearly salaries.
� Php240,000 Php300,000 Php420,000
Php456,000 Php216,000
�Before Stacy interviews for a job, she wishes to
determine an average of these 5 salaries. This
average should be a “central” number around
which the salaries cluster. We will consider three
types of averages, known as the arithmetic mean,
the median, and the mode. Each of these
averages is a measure of central tendency for
numerical data.
The Arithmetic Mean
� The arithmetic mean is the most commonly used measure of
central tendency. The arithmetic mean of a set of numbers is
often referred to as simply the mean. To find the mean for a
set of data, find the sum of the data values and divide by
the number of data values. For instance, to find the mean of
the 5 salaries listed above, Stacy would divide the sum of the
salaries by 5.
� Mean = 240,000 + 300,000 + 420,000 + 456,000 +216,000
5
Mean = 326,400
The mean suggests that Stacy can reasonably expect a
job offer at a salary of about Php326,400.
The Arithmetic Mean
�The traditional symbol used to indicate a summation is the
Greek letter sigma, Σ. Thus the notation Σx, called summation
notation, denotes the sum of all the numbers in a given set.

� We can define the mean using summation notation.

The Arithmetic Mean
�Statisticians often collect data from small portions of a large
group in order to determine information about the group.

�In such situations the entire group under consideration is

known as the population, and any subset of the population is
called a sample.

�It is traditional to denote the mean of a sample by (which

is read as “x bar”) and to denote the mean of a population by
the Greek letter μ (lowercase mu).
Example 1- Find the arithmetic mean
�Six friends in a biology class of 20 students received test
grades of 92, 84, 65, 76, 88, and 90
Find the mean of these test scores.
�Solution:
The 6 friends are a sample of the population of 20 students.
Use to represent the mean.

�The mean of these test scores is 82.5.

The Median
�Another type of average is the median. Essentially,
the median is the middle number or the mean of the
two middle numbers in a list of numbers that have
been arranged in numerical order from smallest to
largest or largest to smallest.
�Any list of numbers that is arranged in numerical
order from smallest to largest or largest to smallest is a
ranked list.
Example 2 – Find a median
�Find the median of the data in the following lists.
a. 4, 8, 1, 14, 9, 21, 12 b. 46, 23, 92, 89, 77, 108
�Solution:
a. The list 4, 8, 1, 14, 9, 21, 12 contains 7 numbers. The
median of a list with an odd number of entries is found by
ranking the numbers and finding the middle number. Ranking
the numbers from smallest to largest gives
1, 4, 8, 9, 12, 14, 21

The middle number is 9. Thus 9 is the median.

Example 2 – Find a median

�b. The list 46, 23, 92, 89, 77, 108 contains 6 numbers. The
median of a list of data with an even number of entries
is found by ranking the numbers and computing the
mean of the two middle numbers. Ranking the numbers
from smallest to largest gives
23, 46, 77, 89, 92, 108

The two middle numbers are 77 and 89. The mean of 77

and 89 is 83. Thus 83 is the median of the data.
The Mode

� A third type of average is the mode.

 Example 3 – Find a Mode

�Find the mode of the data in the following lists.

a. 18, 15, 21, 16, 15, 14, 15, 21 b. 2, 5, 8, 9, 11, 4, 7, 23
�Solution:
a. In the list 18, 15, 21, 16, 15, 14, 15, 21, the number 15
occurs more often than the other numbers. Thus 15 is
the mode.
b. Each number in the list 2, 5, 8, 9, 11, 4, 7, 23 occurs only once.
Because no number occurs more often than the others, there is
no mode.
 Comparing the mean, median and the mode
� The mean, the median, and the mode are all averages;
however, they are generally not equal. The mean of a set of
data is the most sensitive of the averages. A change in any of
the numbers changes the mean, and the mean can be
changed drastically by changing an extreme value.
� In contrast, the median and the mode of a set of data are
usually not changed by changing an extreme value.
� When a data set has one or more extreme values that are very
different from the majority of data values, the mean will not
necessarily be a good indicator of an average value.
Comparing the mean, median and the mode
� In the following example, we compare the mean, the median, and
the mode for the salaries of 5 employees of a small company.
Monthly salaries: Php370,000 60,000 36,000 20,000 20,000
The sum of the 5 salaries is Php506,000. Hence the mean is

The median is the middle number, Php36,000. Because the Php20,000

salary occurs the most, the mode is Php20,000. The data contain one
extreme value that is much larger than the other values. This extreme
value makes the mean considerably larger than the median. Most of
the employees of this company would probably agree that the median
of Php36,000 better represents the aver age of the salaries than does
either the mean or the mode.
The Weighted Mean

�A value called the weighted mean is often used when some

data values are more important than others. For instance, many
professors determine a student’s course grade from the
student’s tests and the final examination.

�Consider the situation in which a professor counts the final

examination score as 2 test scores. To find the weighted mean
of the student’s scores, the professor first assigns a weight to
each score.
The Weighted Mean
�In this case the professor could assign each of the test scores a
weight of 1 and the final exam score a weight of 2.

�A student with test scores of 65, 70, and 75 and a final

examination score of 90 has a weighted mean of
The Weighted Mean
Example 4 – Find a Weighted Mean

� The table below shows Dillon’s fall semester course grades. Use
the weighted mean formula to find Dillon’s GPA for the fall
semester.
Example 4 – Find a Weighted Mean
� The B is worth 3 points, with a weight of 4; the A is worth 4 points
with a weight of 3; the D is worth 1 point, with a weight of 3;
and the C is worth 2 points, with a weight of 4. The sum of all
the weights is 4 + 3 + 3 + 4, or 14.

Dillon’s GPA for the fall semester is 2.5.

�Data that have not been organized or manipulated in any
manner are called raw data.

�A large collection of raw data may not provide much

readily observable information.

�A frequency distribution, which is a table that lists observed

events and the frequency of occurrence of each observed
event, is often used to organize raw data.
 Frequency Distribution
� Consider the following table, which lists the number of laptop
computers owned by families in each of 40 homes in a subdivision.
Frequency Distribution
� The frequency distribution below was constructed using the data from the
table. The first column of the frequency distribution consists of the numbers 0, 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. The corresponding frequency of occurrence, f, of each of
the numbers in the first column is listed in the second column.
 Frequency Distribution
� The formula for a weighted mean can be used to fi nd the mean of the data
in a frequency distribution. The only change is that the weights w1, w2, w3, ... ,
wn are replaced with the frequencies f1, f2, f3, ... , fn. This procedure is
illustrated in the next example.
� The numbers in the right-hand column of Table 13.4 are the frequencies f for
the numbers in the fi rst column. The sum of all the frequencies is 40.

The mean number of laptop computers per household for the homes in the sub
division is 1.975 or 2.
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