2.

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS

Measures of Central Tendency : Mean, Mode and Median

y The mode is the most frequent appearing value in the population or sample. Suppose we draw a sample of 5 women and measure their weights. They weigh 50kg, 50kg, 52kg, 48kg and 53kg. Since more women weigh 50kg than any other weight, the mode would be equal 50kg. To find the median, we arrange the observations in order from smallest to largest value. If there is odd number of observations, the median is the middle value. If there is even number of observations, the median is the average of the two median values. Lets arrange the weight of the 5 women, 48, 50, 50, 52, 53 In this case, the median is 50kg. y The mean of a sample or population is computed by adding all the observations and dividing by the number of observations. For example, the mean weight of 5 women would be (50+50+52+48+53)/5 =50.6kg

Measures of Dispersion: Variance and Standard Deviation

Standard Deviation

The Standard Deviation is a measure of how spread out the numbers are. Its symbol is (the Greek letter sigma)

The formula is easy: it is the square root of the Variance. So now you ask, "What is the
Variance?" Variance

The Variance is defined as: The average of the squared differences from the Mean.

To calculate the variance, follow these steps:

y y y

Work out the Mean (the simple average of the numbers) Then for each number: subtract the Mean and square the result (the squared difference). Then work out the average of those squared differences.

Example
You and your friends have just measured the heights of your dogs (in millimetres):

The heights (at the shoulders) are: 600mm, 470mm, 170mm, 430mm and 300mm. Find out the Mean, the Variance, and the Standard Deviation. Your first step is to find the Mean:

Answer:
600 + 470 + 170 + 430 + 300 Mean = 5 = 5 1970 = 394

so the mean (average) height is 394 mm. Let's plot this on the chart:

Now, we calculate each dogs difference from the Mean:

To calculate the Variance, take each difference, square it, and then average the result:

So, the Variance is 21,704. And the Standard Deviation is just the square root of Variance, so: Standard Deviation: = 21,704 = 147.32... = 147 (to the nearest mm)

And the good thing about the Standard Deviation is that it is useful. Now we can show which heights are within one Standard Deviation (147mm) of the Mean:

The Formula:

Frequency Histograms
A graph that uses vertical columns to show frequencies (how many times each score occurs). There should not be any gaps between the bars.

Scores 1 2 3 4 5

Frequency 2 5 4 2 1

Grouped Data
Frequency Distribution
By counting frequencies we can make a Frequency Distribution table.

Example: Newspapers
These are the numbers of newspapers sold at a local shop over the last 10 days: 22, 20, 18, 23, 20, 25, 22, 20, 18, 20

Let us count how many of each number there is:

Papers Sold 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Frequency 2 0 4 0 2 1 0 1

It is also possible to group the values. Here they are grouped in 5s: Papers Sold 15-19 20-24 25-29 Frequency 2 7 1

Grouped Frequency Distribution

We just saw in that example how we can group frequencies. This is very useful when the scores have many different values

Example: Leaves
Alex measured the lengths of leaves on the oak tree, and got these values (to the nearest cm): 9,16,13,7,8,4,18,10,17,18,9,12,5,9,9,16,1,8,17,1,10,5,9,11,15,6,14,9,1,12,5,16,4,16,8,15,14, 17 Trying to work out the groups takes some practice, but here is a guide: To get started, put the numbers in order, then find the smallest and largest values in your data, and calculate the range (range = largest - smallest).

Example: Leaves (continued)

In order the lengths are: 1,1,1,4,4,5,5,5,6,7,8,8,8,9,9,9,9,9,9,10,10,11,12,12,13,14,14,15,15,16,16,16,16,17,17,17,18, 18 The smallest value (the "minimum") is 1 cm The largest value (the "maximum") is 18 cm The range is 18-1 = 17 cm

Size of Each Group

Now calculate an approximate group size, by dividing the range by how many groups you would like. Then round that group size up to some simple value (like 2 instead of 1.83 or 5 instead of 4.26).

Example: Leaves (continued)

Let us say we want about 5 groups. Divide the range by 5: 17/5 = 3.4 Then round that up to 4

Start Value
Pick a starting value that is less than or equal to the smallest value. Try to make it a multiple of the group size if you can. In our case a start value of 0 makes the most sense

Groups
Now calculate the list of groups. (You must continue up to or past the largest value)

Example: Leaves (continued)

Starting at 0 and with a group size of 4 we get: 0, 4, 8, 12, 16 Write down the groups, include the end value of each group (must be less than the next group): Length (cm) 0-3 4-7 8-11 12-15 16-19 The last group goes to 19, which is greater than the largest value, so that is good. (Note: If you don't like the groups, then go back and change the group size or starting value and try again.) Frequency

Upper and Lower Values For Each Group

Even though Alex only measured in whole numbers, the data is continuous, so "4 cm" means the actual value could have been anywhere from 3.5 cm to 4.5 cm. Alex just rounded the numbers to whole centimeters.

Example: Leaves (continued)

Here are the groups with the Lower and Upper boudaries shown: Length 0-3 cm 4-7 cm 8-11 cm 12-15 cm 16-19 cm Lower/Upper 0-3.5 3.5-7.5 7.5-11.5 11.5-15.5 15.5-19.5 Frequency

Tally and Total

Now tally the results to find the frequencies. And do a total as well.

Example: Leaves (continued)

1,1,1,4,4,5,5,5,6,7,8,8,8,9,9,9,9,9,9,10,10,11,12,12,13,14,14,15,15,16,16,16,16,17,17,17,18,1 8: Length 0-3 cm 4-7 cm 8-11 cm 12-15 cm 16-19 cm Lower/Upper 0-3.5 3.5-7.5 7.5-11.5 11.5-15.5 15.5-19.5 Total: Frequency 3 7 12 7 9 38