MATH LECTURE 4.

4
MEASURES OF POSITION (DECILES)
The DECILES are the nine score points which divide a distribution into ten equal parts. They are deciles and are denoted
as D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8, and D9. They are computed in the same way that the quartiles are calculated.

General Formula for finding deciles:

k ( n+ 1 )
Dk =
10
where, n is the total number of data,
D k is the position of the decile, where k ={1 , 2 ,3 , 4 ,5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 }
each result must be round off to the nearest integer.

Example 1. Find the 3rd decile or D3 of the following test scores of a random sample of ten students:
35 , 42 , 40 , 28 , 15 ,23 , 33 , 20 ,18∧28.
Solution:
First, arrange the scores in ascending order.
15, 18, 20, 23, 28, 28, 33, 35, 40, 42.
Given: n=10 ; k=3
substitute the given to the formula,
3 ( 10+1 )
D 3=
10
then solve,
3 ( 11) 33
D 3= = =3.3 ≈ 3
10 10
D3 is the 3rd element. Therefore, D3=20
15, 18, 20, 23, 28, 28, 33, 35, 40, 42.

Example 2. Mrs. Labonete gave a test to her students in Statistics. The students finished their test in 35 minutes. This
time is the 2.5th decile of the allotted time. What does this mean?

Explanation: This means that 25% of the learners finished the test. A low quartile considered good, because it means the
students finished the test in a short period of time.

Example 3. Anthony is a secretary in one big company in Metro Manila. His salary is in the 7th decile. Should Anthony
be glad about his salary or not? Explain your answer.
Solution: 70% of the employees receive a salary that is less than or equal to his salary and 30% of the employees
receive a salary that is greater than his salary. Anthony should be pleased with his salary.

MEASURES OF POSITION (PERCENTILES)

The PERCENTILES are the ninety-nine score points which divide a distribution into one hundred equal parts, so that
each part represents the data set. It is used to characterize values according to the percentage below them. For example,
the first percentile (P1) separates the lowest 1% from the other 99%, the second percentile (P2) separates the lowest 2%
from the other 98%, and so on.

The percentiles determine the value for 1%, 2%, …, and 99% of the data. P30 or 30th percentile of the data means 30% of
the data have values less than or equal to P30.
The 1st decile is the 10th percentile (P10). It means 10% of the data is less than or equal to the value of P10 or D1, and so
on.
General Formula for finding percentiles:
k ( n+ 1 )
Pk =
100
where, n is the total number of data,
Pk is the position of the decile, where k ={1 , 2 ,3 , 4 ,5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ,11, … , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 }
each result must be round off to the nearest integer.

Example 4. Find the 30th percentile or P30 of the following test scores of a random sample of ten students:
35 , 42 , 40 , 28 , 15 ,23 , 33 , 20 ,18∧28.
Solution:
First, arrange the scores in ascending order.
15, 18, 20, 23, 28, 28, 33, 35, 40, 42.
Given: n=10 ; k=3 0
substitute the given to the formula,
30 ( 10+1 )
P30=
100
then solve,
30 ( 11 ) 330
P30= = =3.3 ≈ 3
100 100
P3 0 is the 3rd element. Therefore, P3 0=20
15, 18, 20, 23, 28, 28, 33, 35, 40, 42.

TRY IT:
Mrs. Marasigan is a veterinarian. One morning, she asked her secretary to record the service time for 15
customers.
The following are service times in minutes.
20, 35, 55, 28, 46, 32, 25, 56, 55, 28, 37, 60, 47, 52, 17
Find the value of the 2nd decile, 6th decile, 8th decile, 20th percentile, 60th percentile, and 80th percentile.

END OF MATH LECTURE 4.4