Lesson1:PrinterFriendly

DMAICandBasicStatistics
Lessons Lesson1 PrinterFriendly

Chapter1
Introduction
Welcometothecourse.MynameisTonySwaimandIwillbeyourguidethroughSixSigma:TotalQualityApplications.Ifyouwerewithusin
ourfirstcourseSixSigma:TotalQualityFundamentalswelcomeback.Andifyou'rejoiningusforthefirsttime,it'sgoodtohaveyou
aboard.
Duringthenextsixweeks,we'llbeexploringthemanyquantitativeelementsofSixSigmaaphilosophyandmethodologyusedtoimprove
quality,reducecosts,andincreasecustomersatisfactioninorganizationsaroundtheworld.You'llbegivingyourcalculatorarealworkout,soI
hopeyourfingersarelooseandyourdisplayissmudgefree.
Todaywe'llbeginwithareviewofDMAIC,whichstandsfordefine,measure,analyze,improve,andcontrol.MostcompaniesusetheDMAIC
structuretoguidetheirSixSigmaactivities,sowhyshouldwebeanydifferent?Afterthat,we'llexaminebasicstatistics.ManyoftheSix
Sigmamethodsandtoolsthatwe'llbeusingrequireyoutohaveabasicknowledgeofstatistics,soIwanttomakesurethatyou'rewell
prepared.
Ifyouhaveanyquestions,pleasefeelfreetopostthemintheDiscussionArea.Lets'begin.

Chapter2
Define,Measure,Analyze,Improve,andControl(DMAIC)
I'mnotsureexactlywhocoinedtheDMAICacronymandlet'sadmitit,it'snottheeasiesttorememberbutit'sbeenaroundforawhile.
WhenIfirstencounteredit,itseemedtobeanupdateofWalterShewhart'swellknownplandocheckact(PDCA)cyclefrom1939,latercalled
theShewhartCyclebyW.EdwardsDeming.ThefourphasesofPDCAarerecognizeanopportunityandplanthechangetestthechange
reviewthetest,analyzetheresultsandidentifythelessonslearnedandtakeaction.DMAICimprovesuponPDCAbecauseitmore
specificallycitestwovitalactions:improveandcontrol.
Whileit'snotcriticalthatyouuseDMAIC,it'sbeneficialforafewreasons.First,it'simportanttostandardizeterminology.Thisimproves
communicationandpromptspeopletosingfromthesamesongsheet.Miscommunicationisabarrierforprocessimprovement(andmany
moretopics).IfonepersonsaysheusesPDCAandanothersayssheusesDMAIC,well,yougetthepicture.It'snoteworthythatthe
AmericanSocietyforQuality(ASQ)usestheDMAICstructureintheirSixSigmabodyofknowledgefortheBlackBeltexamanexamthat
testsyourknowledgeofSixSigmaphilosophiesandprinciples,includingsupportingsystemsandtools.IfASQusesDMAIC,thatshouldbe
goodenoughforus.
SinceImentionedASQ'sSixSigmaBlackBeltexam,IneedtosaythatthiscourseaswellasmyotheroneTotalQualityFundamentals
providesessentialinformationtohelpyoustudyforASQ'sBlackBeltcertificationexam.Ifyou'reinterestedinpursuingSixSigmaBlackBelt
certification,youmayobtaininformationbyvisitingtheASQwebsite.AlinktotheirsitecanbefoundintheSupplementaryMaterials.
IfyourcompanyisjustgettingstartedwithSixSigma,youshouldbeabletouseDMAICwithlittleproblem.Itisverylogicalsomuchso,
thatI'llbeusingitasaguideformostofthiscourse.Inthelessonsthatfollow,we'llbelookingatanumberoftoolstohelpyouuseDMAICto
itsfullestpotential.
Let'slookateachofstages:
1. Define.
Ifyoureviewtheteachingsofthequalitygurus,allofthemstatethatimprovementmustbeginwithprocessdefinition.Ifyoudon'tunderstand
howsomethingworks,howcanyoumakeitbetter(unlessyougetlucky)?InhisbookTheNewEconomics,Demingcoinedtheterm

tamperingtodescribewhathappenswhenpeopletrytoimproveaprocessbeforetheydefineit.Tamperingusuallymakesthingsworse.So
whatdoyoudefine?Defineeverythingrelatedtoaprocessincludingwhoworksonit,whobenefitsfromit,howitworks,whatitproduces,and
whatyouwantittoproduce.
Measure.
Thisstageusesmetrics(measurements)tocommunicatehowthingsaregoing.You'llneedtodefineyourmetricsifyoucurrentlydonotuse
them.It'sessentialthatyousetabaselineusingvalidandreliabledata.Thisbaselinewillindicatewhereyoubeginandwillhelpyouchart
progress.Onekeymeasurementissigma.WhenyouachieveSixSigma,youwillbeproducing3.4defectspermillionopportunities.Although
youmayneverreachSixSigma,it'sstillagoodtargettoshootfor.
Youcandetermineyourlevelofsigmabyusingaprocesscapabilityandsigmaconversiontable.Forexample,ifyourprocesscapabilityis
onewhichmeansthatyoubarelymeetcustomerrequirementsyou'reoperatingata3sigmalevel.Thismeansthatyouproduce66,807
defectspermillionopportunities(about6.7%).Nottoogood.Let'sreviewanexcerptofaprocesscapabilityandsigmaconversiontable.

Fig1.1.Processcapabilityandsigmaconversiontable

Manycompaniesoperateata4or4.5sigmalevel,whichcorrespondstoa1.33and1.5processcapability(Cpk).We'lldiscusshowto
calculateCpkinlesson11.
Analyze.
Whenyouanalyzeaprocess,youidentifyproblems.Youcandeveloptheoriesabouttheirrootcauses,verifyyourtheoriesusingdata,and
arriveatasolution.Thisenablesyoutoreducethegapbetweenwhatyouhaveandwhatyouwant.You'llspendthelargestpercentageof
yourtimeintheanalyzestage.
Improve.
Inearliertimes,itwouldhavebeentemptingtocallitDMACandleaveouttheI(forimprove).Butasyouknow,justgettingbywon'thelpyou
succeed.Improvementisthenameofthegame.It'snotenoughforaprocesstosatisfytoday'scustomers.Plus,youneedtokeepameyeto
thefutureandimproveprocessessotheymeetfuturerequirements.Essentially,findnewwaystodothingsfaster,better,cheaper,andsafer.
Intheimprovestage,you'llimplementyoursolutionfromtheanalyzestage.
Control.
Controlisoneofthosewordsthathasanegativeconnotation.Manypeopleviewcontrolassomethingharshorrestrictive.Gettingwhatyou
expectisthebestwaytoviewcontrolfromaSixSigmastandpoint.Whenyouimplementasolution,youwantittostayfixed.Controlhelps
youdothis.Thebestwaytoexercisecontrolisbyusingateamapproachandrelyingondata.Ifeverythingturnsoutasyouplan,youdon't
needmuchcontrol.Thekeyistoobtainupdatestokeepyouuptospeedregardinghowaprocessisperforming.
NowthatyouunderstandthebasicDMAICstructure,let'smoveontoourstudyofbasicstatistics.

Chapter3
AnOverviewofStatistics
Iimaginethatmanyofyouhavehadastatisticscourseortwointhepast.Butyouknowtheoldsaying,"Ifyoudon'tuseit,youloseit."I
hopethatourbriefdiscussionofstatisticstodaywillhelprefreshyourmemories.Forthoseofyouwhohavenevertakenstatisticsdon't
worry.I'llwalkyouthroughthebasics,stepbystepandmakeitaspainlessaspossible.
Weneedtogainanunderstandingoftwotypesofstatistics.Thefirsttypemeasureslocationofdataandthesecondtypemeasureshow
muchdatadiffers.

Manypeoplelovetoworkwithnumbers.Irememberaclassmateinoneofmyelementaryschoolclassroomswhocouldaddaseriesof
numbersinhisheadfasterthananyoneelsecouldusingpaperandpencil.Iguessyoucouldcallhimahumancalculator.Forthevast
majorityofus,weneednumbersthatarearranged.Instatistics,thisiscalledorderedandclassifieddata.It'sdifficulttounderstandmuchand
makeinferenceswhenyouonlyhaveunorderedorunclassifieddata.Forexample,ifI'mcompilingtimesatabicycleracefor500contestants
andIarrangetheirfinishtimesbytheirentrynumbers,it'sdifficulttodeterminehowthisyear'sracerscomparestopreviousyears.
Onewaytoorganizedataisbyusingvisualimages.Lateroninthecourse,we'lllookatafewmethodstoviewdata,suchashistogramsand
Paretocharts.Whenyouusestatistics,youimproveuponvisualimagesbecauseitismoreprecise.Statisticsdescribesphysicalconditions
andsituationsbyusingtwoindicators:measuresoflocationandmeasuresofdispersion.
Statisticsareveryhelpfulindescribinglargepopulations.Forexample,assumeyouareinterestedintheheightsofbasketballplayersofall
agesintheentireworld.Howcouldyouhaveameaningfuldiscussionwithsomeoneaboutthistopic?Youmaybeabletoidentifytheshortest
andtallestplayers,butwhatelsecouldyousay?
Measuresoflocation,alsoknownasmeasuresofcentraltendency,providedataaboutthistopic.
ThemeasuresoflocationarethethreeMs:median,mode,andmean.Let'srevieweachoftheseMs.Whilethisinformationmaybereviewfor
manyofyou,it'simportantthatIdiscussmedian,mode,andmeanbeforewegettoofarinthelesson.
1. Median.
Youfindthemedianasavaluepositionedinthemiddleofagroupofdata.Personalincomecanbestatedintermsofthemedian.Let's
reviewincomeforafewresidentsoftwoneighboringstates,OregonandWashington:
Oregon:$35,000,$55,000,$90,000
Washington:$15,000,$40,000,$70,000,$125,000
Beforeyoucanfindthemedian,youneedtosequenceyourdatainascendingorder.Whenyouhaveanoddnumberofdatapoints,you
findthemedianbylocatingthemiddlepositionvalue.ForthefewpeoplewelookedatinOregon,themedianpersonalincomeis
$55,000.Whenyouhaveanevennumberofdatapoints,youfindthemedianbyaddingthetwodatapointsinthemiddlepositionsand
dividingbytwo.ForpersonalincomeinWashington,themedianvalueisalso$55,000($40,000+$70,000)2.
Supposethatmysonisdoingresearchonpersonalincome.HefindsthatthemedianincomeinOregonandWashingtonis$55,000
andconcludesthatpeopleinthesetwostatesmakeaboutthesamemoney.Holdon!Howcanthisbewhenthedifferencebetweenthe
highestandlowestincomeinWashingtonis$110,000whileinOregonit'sonly$55,000?IthinkIbettersendmysonbacktodosome
morehomework.Thepointis,themedianislimitedasastatistic.Unfortunately,toomanypeoplecallitanaverage,whichmaybe
misleading.Oftenitdoesn'tgiveanaverage.
Pleasenotethatifyouencountermultipledatapointsthathavethesamevalue,youstillneedcountthemseparatelywhenyou
determinethemedian.Forexample,themedianfor2,2,3,5,8is3.Eventhough2repeated,youstillcounteachvalueasaseparate
datapoint.
2. Mode.
Themodeisdefinedasobservationsthatoccurmostfrequently.Somepopulationsdonothaveamodebecausethereisnovaluethat
occursmorethanonce.Amultimodalpopulationexistswhentherearetwovaluesthatoccuratthesamefrequency.
Whenmysonreviewshisresearchdataandfindsthatthe15peopleearn$63,000,12earn$52,000,11earn$49,000,andeveryone
elsehasadifferentpersonalincome,$63,000isthemode.
3. Mean.
Manypeoplefrequentlycallmeansaverages,howeverinstatistics,thewordaverageisnotarecognizedterm.Inmyearlierexample,
themeanforpersonalincomeinOregonis$60,000andinWashingtonis$62,500.ThreeoutofthefourpeopleinWashingtonmake
muchlessormorethanthisamount,soIwouldn'tcallitanaverage.
Sofar,thethreeMshaven'thelpedusunderstandmuchaboutwhatwe'restudying.Fortunately,themeasuresofdispersionwillgiveus
somehelp.Toeaseourwayintothemeasuresofdispersion,weneedtostartwiththenormalcurve.
Thenormalcurve.Instatistics,themeanisrepresentedbythesymbolxBar.Whenyouunderstandtheconceptofthemean,ithelps
youunderstandthenormalcurve,alsoknownasthenormaldistribution.
Thenormalcurveisacontinuousdistribution.Variablesinacontinuousdistributioncantakeonanyvalueinapossiblerange.
Examplesareindividual'sweights,distancesthatvariousautomobilescantravelonagallonofgas,andthetimesthatittakesforlight
bulbstoburnout.Muchofthevariationinnatureandindustryfollowsthefrequencydistributionofnormalcurves.Runners'speedand
dimensionsofsteelbushingsareexample.
Afewhundredyearsago,scientistsfoundthatmanymeasurementsproduceddataindistributionswithrelativelythesameshape,

whichinstatisticallanguage,iscalledsymmetricalandunimodal(balancedandnodatapointoccurringmorethananother).Youmay
alsoknowthisdistributionasthebellshapedcurve.
Althoughtheshapeofthenormalcurveresemblesabell,itcanbeatall,thinbellorashort,broadbell.Also,thebellcanmovearound
becauseofthelocationofthemean.Agoodwaytoconsideranormalcurveistothinkaboutahistogram.
Let'stakeapeek.

Fig1.2.Histogramandnormalcurve

If,asIdid,youtakeapencilandoutlinethepeaksofthehistogram,youhaveanormalcurve.
Oneofthegreatestassetsofanormalcurveisitsabilitytopredict.Whenyouconsidertheheightsofhumanbeings,youexpecta
smallpercentageofthemtobeextremelyshortandasmallpercentageofthemtobeextremelytall.Thenormalcurvehasmostofthe
valuesclusterednearacentralpoint(averageheights)withprogressivelyfewervaluespositionedawayfromthecenter.Itis
symmetricalaboutthecentralpointbecauseitspreadsoutevenlyonbothsides.Thevaluesawayfromthecenterrepresentshortand
tallpeople.
Statisticiansusethetermsshape,center,andspreadtodescribethenormalcurve.Whenwecalculateacurve'smeasureof
dispersion,itprovidesadditionalinsights.Let'slookatanotherpicturetogainabitmoreinsightaboutthenormalcurve:

Fig1.3.Thenormalcurve

Youcanseethelabels1SD,2SD,3SDand34.13%,13.6%and2.1%oneachsideofthecurve.Thisinformationmaynotmeanmuch
toyourightnow,butIhopeitdoesinafewmomentswhenwediscussstandarddeviation.I'vementionedthetermmeasuresof
dispersionafewtimes,solet'smoveontothatsubject.

Chapter4
MeasuresofDispersion
Measuresofdispersion,alsoknownasmeasuresofvariation,helpuslearnaboutthedifferencesformembersinapopulation.
SupposethatJackie,mynextdoorneighbor'sdaughter,takeseightquizzesinhergeometry,geography,andstatisticscourses.Jackieneeds
somehelpunderstandingstatistics,soIdecidetousehertestscorestoshowherafewthings.First,Icollectherquizscoresandarrange
theminascendingorder:

Geometry:66,66,66,67,67,67,68,69xBar=67
Geography:52,53,61,67,71,72,78,82xBar=67
Statistics:43,44,50,54,67,90,91,97xBar=67
YouseethatJackie'smeanquizscoresforallthreeclassesarethesame.Ifwestoppedhere,wewoulddeducethatJackie'sperformancein
allthreecoursesisequivalent.
However,dispersion(spread)ofthetestscoresdiffersgreatly.Herstatisticsscoresvarywidelyandhergeometryquizscoresvaryslightly.
Weneedindicatorsthataremoremeaningfultounderstandthedispersionofthequizscores.
Let'skeepmoving.Weneedtotalkabouttherange.
1. Range.
Therangeisthesimplestmeasureofdispersion.Tofindtherange,sequencedatainascendingorderandsubtractthesmallestvalue
fromthelargest.
ForJackie'sthreeclasses,therangesare3,30,and54,respectively.But,usingjusttherangeislimitedbecauseitonlytakesinto
accounttheendpointsinadatapopulation,insteadofallmembers.
ConsiderJackie'squizscoresfromlastsemester'salgebraandeconomicscourses.
Algebra:43,68,69,80,97
Economics:43,44,83,90,97
ThemeanandrangeforAlgebraare71.4and54respectively.Thesameistrueforeconomics.But,arethesepopulationsequivalent?
Ifnot,howcanwedescribethedifferences?Weneedanotherstatisticalconcept.
2. Meanabsolutedeviation(MAD).
Let'ssimplifythisstatisticalconceptbecausethephrasemeanabsolutedeviationisalmosttoomuchtotake.Thegoodnewsisthatif
welookateachword,oneatatime,wecanunderstandit.
Ihopethere'snomisunderstandingaboutthewordmeansincewediscusseditinChapter3.Thewordabsolutereferstoaconceptthat
youmayhavehadinamathclass:absolutevalue.Absolutevaluedescribesthedistanceofavaluefromtheorigin(zero)onanumber
line.Thenumber12isadistanceof12fromzeroasisthenumber12.So,theabsolutevalueof12and12is12.Youcan'tusea
negativenumberforabsolutevaluebecausenegativedistancedoesnotexistinournaturalworld.Finally,theworddeviationhelpsus
understandthedifferencesofeachvaluefromthemean.
Let'susethequizscoresfromJackie'sgeographyandstatisticsclassestolearnhowtocalculateMAD.

Fig1.4.Meanabsolutedeviation

Let'sreviewthisdata.Thefirstthingweneedtodoislistthequizscoresforeachclassinacolumninascendingorder.Notethatwe
alwaysputdatainalogicalorder.Wedothistocomplywiththeorderednatureofnumbersthatwediscussedinthebeginningof
Chapter2.WecalleachvalueXi,calledXsubibecauseweusethemascountersforeachtestscore.X1isfortestscoreone,X2is
fortestscoretwoandsoon.ForJackie'sgeographyclass,X1is52andX2is53.
Next,wefindthemeanxBarandlistitinacolumnnexttoeachXi.Foreachclass,themeanis67.Thenwesubtractthemean
fromeachtestscore(XiXbar)andlistitinourthirdcolumn.Wegetourfirstvalue,15,bysubtracting67from52andoursecond
value,14,bysubtracting67from53.BeforewecanfindMAD,weneedtofindtheabsolutevalueforeachvalueinourthirdcolumn
andlistitinourfinalcolumn.Wedothisbymakingallnegativevaluespositiveandbysimplycopyingeachpositivevalue.Finally,we
addallvaluesinourfinalcolumn,dividebythenumberoftestscores,andfindMAD.
WefindthattheMADforJackie'sgeographyclassis8.75andforherstatisticsclassitis19.25.Onceyoufoundouthowtodefine
MAD,youprobablyknewthatthestatisticsquizscoreswouldhavealargerMADthanthegeometryscoresbecauseofthelarger
differencebetweenthosequizscores.However,nowthatwehaveaprecisenumber,wecanquantifythedifferenceanddiscussit.
Therearetwomoremeasuresofdispersiontodiscuss:varianceandstandarddeviation.
3. Variance.
Ithinkyou'llbehappytohearthatwhenyoulearnhowtocalculatevariance,youalmostlearnhowtofindstandarddeviationatthe
sametime.Youjustneedtotakeoneextrastep.MostpeoplepreferusingvarianceinsteadofMADbecauseit'snotnecessarytowork
withabsolutevalue.Thetrickwithvarianceistousethesumofsquares.Maybeyourememberthisconceptfromapastmathclass.
IfwefindthevarianceforJackie'sgeographyandstatisticsquizscores,itlooksquitesimilartotheMADchart.

Fig1.5.Variance

Theonlydifferenceisthatinsteadofusingabsolutevaluesofthedifferencesbetweenindividualtestscoresandthemean,yousquare
thedifferences.So,wetake15andmultiplyitbyitselftoarriveat225.Andsoon.
Althoughvarianceiseasytofind,itdoeshaveadisadvantagenumbersbecomequitelargeinnotimeflat.Weonlyhaveeightquiz
scoresandnumbersthatareeachlessthanonehundred,butourvarianceforJackie'sstatisticsclassisalreadylargeat509.7.
Fortunately,standarddeviationgivesusnumbersthatwecaneasilyuseandunderstand.Ineedtopointoutsomethinginteresting
aboutvarianceandSD.Unlikethemeanwhereyoudividebythenumberofmembersinapopulation,youdividebythenumberof
membersminusonemember.Thedivisoriscalledn1.Whythen1divisor?BecausewhenyoucalculatevarianceandSD,youuse
intervals.
Ifyouhavefourdatapoints,5,8,10,and12,youhavethreeintervals:onebetween5and8,onebetween8and10,andonebetween
10and12.Let'smoveontoSD.
4. Standarddeviation(SD).
FindingSDisasnap.It'sthesquarerootofvariance.
Let'stakeapeek:

Fig1.6.Standarddeviation

Whenwefindthesquarerootofthevarianceforthegeographyandstatisticsquizzes,wecomeupwithaSDof10.98and22.58.What
doesthismean?
Pleasereviewthenextfewparagraphsverycarefully.I'vefoundthatfartoomanypeopledon'tknowhowtouseorexplainSDeven
thosewhohavejustcompletedastatisticscourse.It'smygoaltomakesurethatyouunderstandSD.Weneedtoreturntoourfigure
ofthenormalcurveforsomehelp.
Accordingtothefigure,34.13%ofanormalpopulationoccurswithin+1SDandanother34.13%occurswithin1SD.Thismeansthat
68.26%(34.13%+34.13%)ofJackie'squizscoresforgeographyandstatisticsliewithin+/1SDonthenormalcurve.
Let'susehergeographyscorestoillustrate.
Themeanis67.Itrepresentsthecenterlineforthenormalcurvefigure.OurSDcalculationforthegeographyquizscoresis10.98.For
simplicity,let'sroundoffthisSDto11.ThismeansthatoneSDequals11.
Onepositivestandarddeviation(+1SD)is11andonenegativestandarddeviation(1SD)is11.Thismeansthat+1SDmoves11to
therightofthemeanand1SDmoves11totheleftofthemean.
Whenyoumove+1SD,you'reat78(67+11).Whenyoumove1SD,youareat56(6711).Thismeansthat68.26%ofgeography
quizscoresshouldbebetween56and78.
Whatwouldweexpectat+/2SD?2SDisequalto13.6%.IfyoumoveanotherSDtotheleft(11),ourquizscoreis45.Ifyoumove
anotherSDtotheright,ourquizscoreis89.Sinceweadd13.6%twiceto68.26%,wehavenowexplained95.46%ofJackie's
geographyquizscores.95.46%ofallscoresarebetween45and89becausetheyequal+/2SD.Thismakesperfectsensebecause
hereightquizscoresarebetween52and82.
WhenweaddanotherSD(toreach+/3D),weaddanother4.2%to95.46%toarriveat99.66%.Thismeansthat99.66%ofallquiz
scoresshouldbebetween34and100.IfJackieweretotakeeightmorequizzesthroughoutthesemester,there'sa99.66%probability
thatshewouldscorebetween34and100.
Ihopethatyoufoundthisintroductiontostatisticshelpful.ThemostimportantthingtorememberishowtouseSD.Rememberthatit'sused
todescribedistancefromthemean,andthereforehelpsyouunderstandthesecharacteristicsofthenormalcurve:thegreatertheSD,the
greaterthespreadandthesmallertheSD,thelessvariationinaprocess.

Chapter5
Conclusion
IhopeyouenjoyedLesson1andthatourexplorationinstatisticshelpeddemystifythistopic.
WestartedbyinvestigatingtheDMAICmodel.YoulearnedhowtousethismodelasastructureforyourSixSigmapursuits.Youdiscovered
thenatureofstatisticsandfoundouthowtoapplythemeasuresoflocationmedian,mode,meanandthemeasuresofdispersionrange,
MAD,variance,andSD.
IlookforwardtoworkingwithyouinLesson2wherewe'lllookatthebusinessaspectsofSixSigma,includingriskanalysis,qualityfunction
deployment(QFD),thevoiceofthecustomer(VOC),benchmarking,andfinancialmodels.Seeyouthen!

SupplementaryMaterial
DMAICProcess
http://it.toolbox.com/wiki/index.php/DMAIC_process
ReviewtheinformationatthissitetogetmoreinsightintoDMAIC.

ElectronicTextbook
http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/
Thissitedoesagoodjobofexaminingmanydifferenttypesofstatistics.

SixSigmaBlackBelt
http://www.asq.org/sixsigma/
HereyouwillfindanintroductiontobecomingaSixSigmaBlackBelt.

FAQs
Q:IfthemedianandmodearenotusedthatmuchinstatisticsandSixSigma,whybothertostudyit?
A:That'safairquestion.It'simportanttostudymedianandmodebecausetheyareusedtodescribemanythingsintheworld.Forexample,
mediandescribesrealestatepricesandmodedescribesthefrequencyoftestscores.Whenyoucollectdatausingachecksheet,youusethe
modetoidentifythemostcommonlyoccurringdata.Inthestudyofstatistics,medianandmodehelplaythefoundationformorecomplex
topics,suchasstandarddeviation.

Assignment

Ifyouwanttopracticewhatyoulearnedinthelesson,calculatethemedian,mode,mean,range,MAD,variance,andSDforthesenumbers.
I'vepostedtheanswersbelow,butpleasedon'tpeekuntilyou'refinished.Also,reviewthereferencesintheSupplementaryMaterialsection.
23
45
33
25
55
63
47
60
37
33

Clickheretoviewtheanswer.

Backtotop
Copyright19972015Allrightsreserved.Thematerialonthissitecannotbereproducedorredistributedunlessyouhaveobtainedpriorwrittenpermission
fromCengageLearning.
tqa0