Thornleigh Salesian College, Bolton

Stats Easter School: 1. Numerical Measures

Q1.Giles, a keen gardener, rents a council allotment.

During early April 2011, he planted 27 seed potatoes.

When he harvested his potato crop during the following August, he counted the number of
new potatoes that he obtained from each seed potato.

He recorded his results as follows.

Number of new potatoes ≤6 7 8 9 10 11 ≥ 12

Frequency 2 2 1 4 8 6 4

(a) Calculate values for the median and the interquartile range of these data.
(3)

(b) Advise Giles on how to record his corresponding data for 2012 so that it would then
be possible to calculate the mean number of new potatoes per seed potato.
(1)
(Total 4 marks)

Q2. Lizzie, the receptionist at a dental practice, was asked to keep a weekly record of the
number of patients who failed to turn up for an appointment. Her records for the first 15
weeks were as follows.

20 26 32 a 37 14 27 34 15 18 b 25 37 29 25

Unfortunately, Lizzie forgot to record the actual values for two of the 15 weeks, so she
recorded them as a and b. However, she did remember that a < 10 and that b > 40.

(a) Calculate the median and the interquartile range of these 15 values.
(4)

(b) Give a reason why, for these data:

(i) the mode is not an appropriate measure of average;

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(ii) the standard deviation cannot be used as a measure of spread.
(2)
(Total 6 marks)

Q3.Katy works as a clerical assistant for a small company. Each morning, she collects the
company’s post from a secure box in the nearby Royal Mail sorting office.

Katy’s supervisor asks her to keep a daily record of the number of letters that she collects.

Her records for a period of 175 days are summarised in the table.

Daily number of
Number of days
letters
(f)
(x)

0-9 5

10-19 16

20 23

21 27

22 31

23 34

24 16

25-29 10

30-34 5

35-39 3

40-49 4

50 or more 1

Total 175

(a) For these data:

(i) state the modal value;

(1)
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(ii) determine values for the median and the interquartile range.
(3)

(b) The most letters that Katy collected on any of the 175 days was 54. Calculate
estimates of the mean and the standard deviation of the daily number of letters
collected by Katy.
(4)

(c) During the same period, a total of 280 letters was also delivered to the company by
private courier firms.

Calculate an estimate of the mean daily number of all letters received by the
company during the 175 days.
(2)
(Total 10 marks)

Q4. A student used the internet to obtain 40 records of the maximum daily temperature,
x °F, over a 40-day period in 1900. The results were summarised as

Σx = 2160, Σx = 116 680.

2

(a) Find the mean and standard deviation of these temperatures.

(3)

To enable the data to be compared with results for the year 2000, the student converted
each temperature to y °C by means of the linear scaling

(b) Find the mean and standard deviation of the temperatures in °C.
(3)
(Total 6 marks)

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M1.(a) Median = 10
CAO

B1

Upper quartile = 11

Lower quartile = 9
CAO; either
May be implied by IQR = 2

B1

Interquartile range = 2
CAO; do not award if seen to be not based on 11 and 9

B1
3

(b) Do not group results

OE statement that implies non grouping or recording of
all separate observed values

Illustrations for B1:

Use all values
Replace. ≤ 6 by or use (0), 1,..., 6
Replace. ≥ 12 by or use 12, 13,...
Record exact values / frequencies
Illustrations for B0:
Record max and / or min values
Construct frequency table
Use 1, 2 or 12, 13

B1
1
[4]

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M2. (a) Ordering values gives:

May be implied by correct median or correct IQR

(a) 14 15 18 20 25 25 26 27 29 32 34 37 37 (b)
Ignore any reference to a and b

M1

Median = 26
CAO

A1

IQR = 34 – 18 = 16
CAO

A2

Special Case:
Identification that LQ = 18 and UQ = 34
Both CAO

(A1)
4

(b) (i) Two values (25 and 37) of mode

No unique value
Sparse data
Many different values
Or equivalent

B1

(ii) a and b (two values) unknown

Impossible to calculate
Cannot be calculated
Or equivalent

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B1
2
[6]

M3.(a) (i) Mode = 23

CAO

B1
1

(ii) Median (88 value) = 22

th

CAO

B1

Upper quartile (132 value) = 23

nd

Lower quartile (44 value) = 20

th

CAO; either
May be implied by IQR = 3

B1

Interquartile range = 3
CAO; do not award if seen to be not based on 23 and 20

B1
3

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(b) Mean = 22.3
CAO; but only award B1 (22.3) if incorrect mid-points
or ∑fx seen

B2

Mean = 21 to 23
AWFW(∑fx = 3902.5)

(B1)

Standard deviation = 6.37 or 6.39

AWRT(s = 6.391 σ = 6.372)

B2

Standard deviation = 5 to 7
AWFW(∑fx 2
= 94132.25)

(B1)

SC Only if B0 B0 or B1 B0 then award as follows but only up to a maximum

total part mark of 2

1 At least 2 correct mid–points 4.5, 14.5, 27, 32, 37, 44.5, 54 seen ⇒ M1

2 Clear use of ∑fx/(175 or 174) ⇒ M1

(B1)
4

(c) Mean = (c’s mean from (b)) + = 22.3 + 1.6

Adding (1.6 or equivalent) CAO
to (c’s mean from (b)) or to (c’s new mean)

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M1

Mean = 23.9
F on (c’s mean from (b)) or on (c’s new mean)

AF1
2
[10]

M4. (a) = 54 (°F)

B1
3

(°F)

allow even if unclear

allow

M1A1

(b) 12 (°C)
allow 12.2. Not 12.3

M1A1
3

(°C)
allow 0.56

B1f.t.
[6]

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E1.Most candidates got off to a confident start here, with very few not scoring all 3 marks in part
(a). Answers to part (b) were generally sufficient but some statements lacked clarity whilst
others suggested alternative grouping, recording the maximum and minimum values or
even turning the data into some graphical presentation.

E2. Almost all candidates scored at least 3 marks with many achieving 5 or 6 marks.
There was a marked improvement, compared with previous papers, in the calculation of
the median and interquartile range, although a small minority of candidates produced an
incomplete solution by not finding the difference between their correct upper and lower
quartile values. Incorrect answers were usually attributable to slips or omissions,
particularly in respect of a and b, in ordering the data.

Part (b)(i) was the least successfully answered part. Incorrect answers included “a and b
unknown” or “All values are different”. Other answers such as “A large range” were
unclear as to whether this applied to the ‘data range’ (not accepted) or ‘many different
values’ (accepted). Answers to parts (b)(ii) were almost invariably correct.

E3.Part (a) caused few students any problems. A small minority stated ‘34’ for the mode whilst,
in part (a)(ii), a few others attempted to treat the data as continuous or calculated the
interquartile range by using (132 – 44 = 88 → 22). As expected, except for a fairly
common listing on the question paper of mid-points, the majority of answers to part (b)
were obtained directly from calculators. However, many students obtained inaccurate or
even completely incorrect answers. The inaccuracies were, in the main, due to using
incorrect mid-points and / or replacing the value of 54 by 52 or even 50. Such students
usually scored 2 of the 4 marks available. A minority of students ignored the frequencies
and simply worked with mid-points and n = 12 so obtaining incorrect answers for no
reward. More students than expected had difficulty with part (c). All that was required, for

2 follow-through marks, was to simply add = 1.6 to the mean value in part (b). About 1
/ 3 of students did this correctly. Of the remaining 2/3 , about 1/2 made no attempt and a
rd rds

similar proportion attempted a variety of methods. Many such methods were invalid (eg
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[(mean from (b)) × 1.6] or [(∑fx + 280)/176]) but some were valid although lengthy and
often inaccurate (eg [(recalculated∑fx + 280)/175]) and so usually scored at most one
mark.

E4. Part (a) was usually answered well. Those who were successful were generally able
to obtain the mean in part (b) although the standard deviation in °C proved more
problematic. Many candidates assumed that the two standard deviations must be equal.

Part (c) was not answered well. Frequently, candidates would perform an operation on
one side of the equation (such as multiplying by 9) and then do something entirely
different on the other side. Even those who coped numerically often reversed the
inequality sign incorrectly.

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