Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures
CHAPTER 3
DESCRIBING DATA USING NUMERICAL MEASURES
TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS
3-1 Measures of Center and Location
1. If after graphing the data for a quantitative variable of interest, you notice that the distribution is highly
skewed in the positive direction, the measure of central location that would likely provide the best
assessment of the center would be the median.
Answer: True (Moderate)
Keywords: skew, median, center
2. A statistic is just another name for a parameter.
Answer: False (Easy)
Keywords: statistic, parameter
3. The owner of a local gasoline station has kept track of the number of gallons of regular unleaded sold
at his station every day since he purchased the station. This morning, he computed the mean number of
gallons. This value would be considered a statistic.
Answer: False (Moderate)
4. The Parks and Recreation manager for the city of Detroit recently submitted a report to the city council
in which he indicated that a random sample of 500 park users indicated that the average number of visits
per month was 4.56. This value should be viewed as a statistic by the city council.
Keywords: statistic, parameter, average
5. A statistic is a value that describes a population characteristic while a parameter is computed from a
sample.
6. The symbol is used to represent the sample mean.
Keywords: measure, spread, mean
7. The marketing manager for Voice-talk, a cell phone company, has taken a sample of 300 customers
from the list of 4,356 total customers. The mean monthly bill for the last October based on the sample
data is $45.62. The manager should realize that the mean bill for all 4,356 customers will actually be
higher than $45.62.
Keywords: sample, mean
49
8. You are given the following data:

23
34
11
40
25
47
If these data were considered to be a population and you computed the mean, you would get the same
answer as if these data were considered to be a sample from a larger population.
Keywords: population, mean, sample
23
34
11
40
25
47
Assuming that the data reflect a sample from a larger population, the sample mean is 30.00.
Answer: True (Easy)
Keywords: sample, mean, population
23
34
11
40
25
47
Assuming that the data reflect the population of interest, the mean of the population is 36.00.
Keywords: mean, population
11. Data are considered to be right-skewed when the mean lies to the right of the median.
Answer: True (Easy)
Keywords: skewed, skew, mean, median
12. The sample mean is an estimate of and may be either higher or lower than depending on the
sample.
Keywords: mean, sample, population
13. When news articles report on household income level they usually report the median income, rather
than the mean income. This would be because income is usually a right skewed distribution.
Keywords: mean, median, skewed
9
11
14
22
31
Assuming that these data reflect the population of interest, these data can be considered symmetric.
Keywords: mean, median, symmetric
50

23
34
11
40
25
47
Assuming that these data are a sample selected from a larger population, the median value for these
sample data is 25.5.
Keywords: median, sample
16. A distribution is said to be symmetric when the sample mean and the population mean are equal.
Keywords: mean, sample, population, symmetric
17. In a recent study of the sales prices of houses in a midwestern city, the mean sales price has been
reported to be $167,811 while the median sales price was $155,600. From this information, you can
determine that the data involved in the study are left-skewed.
Keywords: mean, median, skew, skewed
18. One of the primary advantages of using the median as a measure of the center for a set of data is that
the median is not affected by extreme values in the data.
Answer: True (Easy)
Keywords: median, center, extreme
19. Suppose a study of houses that have sold recently in your community showed the following
frequency distribution for the number of bedrooms:
Bedrooms
1
2
3
4
5
Frequency
1
18
140
57
11
Based on this information, the mode for the data is 140.

Keywords: mode, frequency
Bedrooms
Frequency
1
1
2
18
3
140
4
57
5
11
Based on this information the mean number of bedrooms in houses that sold is approximately 3.26.
Keywords: mean, weighted
51
21. Suppose a study of houses that have sold recently in your community showed the following frequency
distribution for the number of bedrooms:
Bedrooms
Frequency
1
1
2
18
3
140
4
57
5
11
Based on this information, the median number of bedrooms in houses sold is 3.20.
Keywords: median
Bedrooms
1
2
3
4
5
Frequency
1
18
140
57
11
Based on this information, it is possible to determine that the distribution of bedrooms in homes sold is
right-skewed.
Answer: True (Difficult)
Keywords: mean, median, skew, skewed
23. A set data in which the mean, median, and mode are all equal is said to be a skewed distribution.
Keywords: mean, median, mode, symmetric, skewed
24. First Pacific Bank has determined that the mean checking account balance for all its customers is
currently $743.50. Based on this, it is fair to say that about half the customers have balances exceeding
$743.50.
Keywords: mean, median
25. When analyzing annual incomes of adults in a market area, the marketing managers report indicated
that the 90th percentile is $123,400. That means that 90 percent of the adult incomes in the market area
fall at or below $123,400.
Answer: True (Easy)
Keywords: percentile
26. When the median of a data set is 110 and the mean is 127, the percentile associated with the mean
must be higher than 50%.
Keywords: mean, median, percentile
52
27. The second quartile for a set of data will have the same value as the 50 th percentile only when the data
are symmetric.
Keywords: quartile, percentile, symmetric
28. If a set of data has 1,500 values, the 30th percentile value will correspond to the 450th value in the data
when the data have been arranged in numerical order.
Keywords: percentile, location
29. If a set of data has 540 values, the 3rd quartile corresponds to approximately the 135th value when the
data have been arranged in numerical order.
Answer: False (Difficult)
Keywords: quartile, percentile, location
30. A set of data is considered to be symmetric if the 3 rd quartile is three times larger than the 1st quartile.
Keywords: quartile, percentile, symmetric
31. If the mean value of a variable is 200 and the median is 150, the third quartile must be at least 200.
Keywords: mean, median, quartile
32. Recently an article in a newspaper stated that 75 percent of the households in the state had incomes of
$20,200 or below. Given this input, it is certain that mean household income is less than $20,200.
Keywords: mean, percentile
33. It is possible for a set of data to have multiple modes as well as multiple medians, but there can be
only one mean.
Keywords: mean, median, mode
34. A box and whisker plot shows where the mean value falls relative to the median for a variable.
Keywords: box, whisker, mean, median
35. The right and left edges of the box in a box and whisker plot represent the 3 rd and 1st quartiles
respectively.
Answer: True (Easy)
Keywords: quartile, box, whisker, edge
36. A recent study involving a sample of 3,000 vehicles in California showed the following statistics
related to the number of miles driven per day: Q1 = 12 Q2 = 45 and
Q3 = 56. Based on these data, we know that the distribution is skewed.
Keywords: quartile, skew, skewed, median
53
Q3 = 56. Based on these data, if a box and whisker plot is developed, a value of 110 is an outlier.
Keywords: box, whisker, limit
Q3 = 56. Based on these data, if a box and whisker plot is developed, the right-hand whisker value is 122
miles.
39. In drawing a box and whisker plot the length of the whiskers is 1.5(Q3 Q1).
Answer: True (moderate)
40. When surveyed, a sample of 1,250 patients at a regional hospital provided interviewers with the
following summary statistics pertaining to the hospital charges:
Minimum = $278.00
Q1 = $1,245
Q2 = $3,567
Q3= $4,702. Based on these data, if you were to
construct a box and whisker plot, the value corresponding to the right-hand edge of the box would be
$4,702.
Keywords: box, whisker, edge
Minimum = $278.00
Q1 = $1,245
Q2 = $3,567
Q3= $4,702. Based on these data, if you were to
construct a box and whisker plot, the value $278 would be considered an outlier.
Keywords: box, whisker, outlier
Minimum = $278.00
Q1 = $1,245
Q2 = $3,567
Q3= $4,702. Based on these data, the
distribution is seen to be symmetric.
Keywords: median, quartile, symmetric
3-2 Measures of Variation

43. A dairy farm in Wisconsin bottles milk in one gallon containers. At a recent meeting, the production
manager asked top management for a new filling machine that he argued would assure that all containers
had exactly one gallon of milk. Based on sound statistical principles, the top management group should
conclude that the production manager could have merit to his argument.
Keywords: variation
44. The range is an ideal measure of variation since it is not sensitive to extreme values in the data.
Keywords: range, variation, sensitive
54
45. When a variance is calculated for a data set, the resulting value is the same regardless of whether the
data set is treated as a population or a sample.
Keywords: variance, population, sample
46. The Good-Guys Car Dealership has tracked the number of used cars sold at its downtown dealership.
Consider the following data as representing the population of cars sold in each of the 8 weeks that the
dealership has been open.
3
5
2
7
The population range is 9.
Answer: True (Easy)
Keywords: range, population
3
5
2
7
7
7
The population variance is approximately 9.43.
Keywords: population, variance
3
5
2
7
7
7
9
The population standard deviation is approximately 2.87 cars.
Keywords: population, standard, deviation
49. One of the reasons that the standard deviation is preferred as a measure of variation over the variance
is that the standard deviation is measured in the original units.
Answer: True (Easy)
Keywords: standard, deviation, variation, units
50. The interquartile range is the difference between the mean and the median.
Keywords: interquartile range, median, mean
51. A store manager tracks the number of customer complaints each week. The following data reflect a
random sample of ten weeks.
11
19
4
The range for these data is 8.
Keywords: range, variation
55
11
19
4
6
8
9
The variance for these data is approximately 27.78.
Keywords: sample, variance
11
19
4
6
8
9
6
The standard deviation for these data is approximately 27.78.
Keywords: standard, deviation, sample
54. The interquartile range contains the middle 50% of a data set.
Keywords: interquartile range
55. For a given set of data, if the data are treated as a population, the calculated standard deviation will
be less than it would be had the data been treated as a sample.
Keywords: sample, standard, deviation, population
56. If a population standard deviation is computed to be 345, it will almost always be the case that a
standard deviation computed from a random sample from that population will be larger than 345.
Keywords: population, sample, standard, deviation
57. The advantage of using the inter-quartile range as a measure of variation is that it utilizes all the data
in its computation.
Keywords: variation, inter-quartile, range
58. Suppose the standard deviation for a given sample is known to be 20. If the data in the sample are
doubled, the standard deviation will be 40.
Keywords: standard, deviation
3-3 Using the Mean and Standard Deviation Together

59. Populations with larger means will also have larger standard deviations since the data will be more
spread out for populations with larger means.
Keywords: mean, standard deviation
60. In comparing two distributions with the same mean, the coefficient of variation is the only way to
assess which distribution has the greatest relative variability.
Keywords: mean, coefficient, variation
56
61. Consider a situation involving two populations where population 1 is known to have a higher
coefficient of variation than population 2. In this situation, we know that population 1 has a higher
standard deviation than population 2.
Keywords: coefficient, variation, standard deviation
62. Acme Taxi has two taxi cabs. The manager tracks the daily revenue for each cab. Over the past 20
days, Cab A has averaged $76.00 per night with a standard deviation equal to $11.00. Cab B has averaged
$200.00 per night with a standard deviation of $18.00. Based on this information, Cab B has the greatest
relative variation.
Keywords: standard deviation, relative variation, coefficient of variation
63. Acme Taxi has two taxi cabs. The manager tracks the daily revenue for each cab. Over the past 20
days, Cab A has averaged $76.00 per night with a standard deviation equal to $11.00. Cab B has averaged
$200.00 per night with a standard deviation of $18.00. Based on this information, the coefficient of
variation for Cab B is 9 percent.
Keywords: standard deviation, relative variation, coefficient of variation
64. Based on the empirical rule we can assume that all distributions have approximately 95% of the
values within + 2 standard deviations of the mean.
Answer: True (Easy)
Keywords: empirical rule
65. Suppose a distribution has a mean of 80 and standard deviation of 10. It is found that 84% of the
values in the data set lie between 70 and 90. This implies that the distribution is not bell shaped.
Keywords: mean, standard deviation, empirical rule
66. The credit card balances for customers at State Bank and Trust has a mean equal to $800 and a
standard deviation equal to $60.00. Kevin Smiths balance is $1,352. Based on this, his standardized
value is 9.20.
Keywords: mean, standard deviation, z-score, standardized value
67. Based on the empirical rule we can expect about 95% of the values in bell shaped distribution to be
within one standard deviation of the mean.
Keywords: mean, standard deviation, empirical rule
68. A major automobile maker has two models of sedans. The first model has been shown to get an
average of 27 mpg on the highway with a standard deviation equal to 5 mpg. The second model gets 33
mpg on average with a standard deviation of 8 mpg. Based on this information the first car model is
relatively more variable than the second car model.
Keywords: mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, relative variation
57
69. The distribution of bankcard balances for customers is highly right-skewed with a mean of $1,100
and a standard deviation equal to $250. Based on this information, approximately 68 percent of the
customers will have bank balances between $850 and $1,350.
Keywords: skewed, mean, standard deviation, Tchebysheff
70. The distribution of dollars paid for car insurance by car owners in a major east coast city is bellshaped with a mean equal to $750 every six months and a standard deviation equal to $100. Based on this
information we can use Tchebysheffs theorem to determine the conservative percentage of car owners
that will pay between $550 and $950 for car insurance.
Keywords: mean, standard deviation, Tchebysheff
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

3-1 Measures of Center and Location
71. A population measure, such as the population mean, is called a:
a. statistic.
b. parameter.
c. prime number.
d. sample value
Answer: B (Easy)
Keywords: population, parameter
72. If a business manager selected a sample of customers and computed the mean income for this sample
of customers, she has computed:
a. a statistic.
b. an ordinal value.
c. a nominal value.
d. a parameter
Answer: A (Easy)
Keywords: sample, statistic
73. Which of the following statements is true?
a. The mean of a population will always be larger than the population standard deviation.
b. The mean of the population will generally be larger than the mean of the sample
selected from that population.
c. The population mean and a sample mean for a sample selected from that population
will usually be different values.
d. The population mean and sample mean will always be identical.
Answer: C (Moderate)
Keywords: population, sample, mean
58
74. The most frequently used measure of central tendency is:

a. median.
b. mean.
c. mode.
d. middle value.
Answer: B (Easy)
Keywords: central tendency, mean
75. Consider the following sample data:
25
11
17
17
For these data the sample mean is:

a. 8.
b. 10.
c. 3.
d. 12
Answer: B (Easy)
Keywords: sample, mean
76. Consider the following sample data:
25
11
For these data the median is:

a. 7.5
b. 3.5
c. 10.
d. None of the above.
Answer: A (Moderate)
Keywords: sample, median
77. A small company has 7 employees. The numbers of years these employees have worked for this
company are shown as follows:
4
14
16
16
Based upon this information, the mean number of years that employees have been with this company is:
a. 16.
b. x .
c. 8.40.
d. 10
Answer: D (Easy)
Keywords: population, mean
59
4
14
16
16
Based upon this information, the median number of years that employees have been with this company is:
a. 9 years.
b. 16 years.
c. 10 years.
d. 14 years
Keywords: population, median
4
14
16
16
Based upon this information, the mode number of years that employees have been with this company is:
a. 16.
b. 2.
c. 9.
d. 10.
Answer: A (Easy)
Keywords: population, mode
80. A sample of people who have attended a college football game at your university has a mean = 3.2
members in their family. The mode number of family members is 2 and the median number is 2.0. Based
on this information:
a. the population mean exceeds 3.2.
b. the distribution is bell-shaped.
c. the distribution is right-skewed.
d. the distribution is left-skewed.
Keywords: skewed, mean, median
81. A major retail store has studied customer behavior and found that the distribution of time customers
spend in a store per visit is symmetric with a mean equal to 17.3 minutes. Based on this information,
which of the following is true?
a. The distribution is bell shaped.
b. The median is to the right of the mean.
c. The median is approximately 17.3 minutes.
d. The median is to the left of the mean
Answer: C (Easy)
Keywords: symmetric, mean, median
60
82. A large retail company gives an employment screening test to all prospective employees. Frankin
Gilman recently took the test and it was reported back to him that his score placed him at the 80th
percentile. Therefore:
a. 80 people who took the test scored below Franklin.
b. Frankin scored as high or higher than 80 percent of the people who took the test.
c. Frankin was in the bottom 20 percent of those that have taken the test.
d. Frankins score has a z-score of 80.
Answer: B (Moderate)
Keywords: percentile
83. A large retail company gives an employment screening test to all prospective employees. If a
prospective employee receives a report saying that she scored at the 40 th percentile:
a. she scored above the median
b. she scored better than 40 percent of people who took the test
c. she scored in the top 40 percent of people who took the test
d. her z score was a 40
Keywords: percentile, median
84. If a data set has 740 values that have been sorted from low to high, which value in the data set will be
the 20th percentile?
a. The average of the 148th and 149th values
b. The 20th value
c. The 148th value
d. None of the above.
Keywords: percentile, location
85. If a data set has 1,133 sorted values, what value corresponds to the 3 rd quartile?
a. The 250th value
b. The 850th value
c. The 760th value
d. The 849th value
Keywords: percentile, quartile, value
86. At a sawmill in Oregon, a process improvement team measured the diameters for a sample of 1,500
logs. The following summary statistics were computed:
Q1 = 8.9 in.
Q2 = 13.5 in.
Q3 = 15.6 in x 14.2 in.
Given this information, the boundaries on the box in a box and whisker plot are:
a. 8.9 in and 15.6 in.
b. 13.5 in + 1.5 (Q3-Q1).
c. 14.2 in + 1.5 (Q3-Q1).
d. 8.9 in and 14.2 in
Keywords: box, whisker, plot, boundary
61
Q1 = 8.9 in.
Q2 = 13.5 in.
Q3 = 15.6 in x 14.2 in.
Given this information, in a box and whisker plot, which of these four values will NOT appear.
a. 8.9 in.
b. 13.5 in.
c. 15.6 in.
d. 14.2 in
Answer: D (moderate)
Keywords: box, whisker, plot
Q1 = 8.9 in.
Q2 = 13.5 in.
Q3 = 15.6 in x 14.2 in.
Given this information, which of the following statements is correct?
a. The distribution of log diameters is symmetric.
b. A log that is over 20 inches in diameter can be considered an outlier.
c. The distribution of log diameters is right-skewed.
d. The distribution is left-skewed.
Keywords: skewed, mean, median, quartile
Q1 = 8.9 in.
Q2 = 13.5 in.
Q3 = 15.6 in x 14.2 in.
Given this information, for a box and whisker plot which of the following statements is appropriate?
a. Seventy-five percent of the trees in the sample have values between 8.9 in. and 15.6
in.
b. Virtually all of the data should fall between 0 in. and 25.65 in.
c. No tree will have a diameter of more than 22.3 in.
d. Fifty percent of the trees will have diameters between 13.5 and 15.6 inches.
Answer: B (Difficult)
Keywords: box, whisker, outlier
90. If a distribution for a quantitative variable is thought to be nearly symmetric with very little variation.
If a box and whisker plot is created for this distribution, which of the following is true?
a. the box will be quite wide but the whisker will be very short.
b. the left and right-hand edges of the box will be approximately equal distance from the
median
c. the whiskers should be about half as long as the box is wide.
d. The upper whisker will be much longer than the lower whisker
Keywords: box, whisker, symmetric, median
62
3-2 Measures of Variation

91. Which of the following is the most frequently used measure of variation?
a. The range
b. The standard deviation
c. The variance
d. The mode
Answer: B (Easy)
Keywords: variation, standard deviation
92. Which of the following measures is not affected by extreme values in the data?
a. The mean
b. The median
c. The range
d. The standard deviation
Keywords: extreme, insensitive, median
93. The following data reflect the number of customers who test drove new cars each day for a sample of
20 days at the Redfield Ford Dealership.
Given these data, what is the range?
a. 14
b. 1
c. Approximately 3.08
d. 5.95
Answer: A (Easy)
Keywords: range, sample
Given these data, what is the variance?

a. 0.69
b. Approximately 3.08
c. Approximately 9.52
d. Approximately 181
Keywords: variance, sample
63
Given these data, what is the interquartile range?

a. 3
b. 7
c. 4
d. 14
Answer: A (Difficult)
Keywords: interquartile range, sample
96. The advantage of using the interquartile range versus the range as a measure of variation is:
a. it is easier to compute.
b. it utilizes all the data in its computation.
c. it gives a value that is closer to the true variation.
d. it is less affected by extremes in the data.
Answer: D (Easy)
Keywords: range, variation, interquartile range
97. The following data reflect the number of customers who return merchandise for a refund on Monday.
Note these data reflect the population of all 10 Mondays for which data are available.
Based on these data, what is the standard deviation?

a. 13.03
b. 12.36
c. 39
d. 152.8
Keywords: population, standard deviation
64
98. The following data reflect the number of customers who return merchandise for a refund on Monday.
Note these data reflect the population of all 10 Mondays for which data are available.
Assume that this same exact pattern of data were replicated for the next ten days. How would this affect
the standard deviation for the new population with 20 items?
a. The standard deviation would be doubled.
b. The standard deviation would be cut in half.
c. The standard deviation would not be changed.
d. There is no way of knowing the exact impact without knowing how the mean is
changed.
Answer: C (Difficult)
Keywords: standard deviation, population

99. In order to compute the mean and standard deviation, the level of data measurement should be:
a. ratio or interval.
b. qualitative.
c. nominal.
d. ordinal.
Answer: A (Easy)
Keywords: mean, standard deviation, ratio, interval
100.
Consider the following data which represent the number of miles that employees commute from
home to work each day. There are two samples: one for males and one for females.
Males:
13
23
14
Females:
15
Which of the following statements is true?

a. The female distribution is more variable since the range for the females is greater than
for the males.
b. Females in the sample commute farther on average than do males.
c. The males in the sample commute farther on average than the females.
d. males and females on average commute the same distance
Keywords: range, mean
65
3-3 Using the Mean and Standard Deviation Together

101. Consider the following data which represent the number of miles that employees commute from
Males:
13
5
2
23
14
5
Females:
15
The coefficient of variation of commute miles for the males is:

a. approximately 76 percent.
b. about 7.8
c. approximately 61.5
d. about 67 percent
Keywords: coefficient or variation, mean, standard deviation
102. Consider the following data which represent the number of miles that employees commute from
Males:
13
5
2
23
14
5
Females:
15
Which of the following statements is true?

a. Females have the larger mean
b. The coefficient of variation is larger for females than for males
c. The coefficient of variation is larger for males than for females
d. Females have the larger range
Keywords: sample, coefficient of variation, relative variability
103. If the age distribution of customers at a major retail chain is thought to be bell-shaped with a
mean equal to 43 years and a standard deviation equal to 7 years, the percentage of customers
between the ages of 29 and 57 years is:
a. approximately 81.5.
b. approximately 68.
c. at least 75.
d. approximately 95.
Answer: D (Easy)
Keywords: empirical rule, distribution
104. Under what circumstances is it necessary to use the coefficient of variation to compare relative
variability between two or more distributions?
a. When the means of the distributions are equal
b. When the means of the distributions are not equal
c. When the standard deviations of the distributions are not equal
d. When the standard deviations of the distributions are equal
66
Keywords: coefficient of variation, mean, standard deviation

105. In the annual report, a major food chain stated that the distribution of daily sales at their Detroit
stores is known to be bell-shaped, and that 95 percent of all daily sales fell between $19,200 and
$36,400. Based on this information, what were the mean sales?
a. Around $20,000
b. Close to $30,000
c. Approximately $27,800
d. Cant be determined without more information.
Keywords: empirical rule, mean, standard deviation
106. The number of days that homes stay on the market before they sell in Houston is bell-shaped with a
mean equal to 56 days. Further, 95 percent of all homes are on the market between 40and 72 days. Based
on this information, what is the standard deviation for the number of days that houses stay on the market
in Houston?
a. 8
b. 8
c. 16
d. 4
Keywords: empirical rule, mean, standard deviation
107. Incomes in a particular market area are known to be right-skewed with a mean equal to $33,100. In
a report issued recently, a manager stated that at least 89 percent of all incomes are in the range of
$26,700 to $39,500, and this was based on Tchebysheffs theorem. Given these facts, what is the standard
deviation for the incomes in this market area?
a. Approximately $6,400
b. Approximately $3,200
c. Approximately $2,133
d. Approximately $4266
Answer: C (Difficult)
Keywords: standard deviation, mean, Tchebysheff
108. A distribution has a coefficient of variation of 65% and mean of 74. What is the value of the
standard deviation?
a. 0.65
b. 4810
c. 113.8
d. 48.1
Answer: D (Moderate)
Keywords: mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation
67
109. The asking price for homes on the real estate market in Baltimore has a mean value of $286,455 and
a standard deviation of $11,200. Four homes are listed by one real estate company with the following
prices:
Home 1:
$456,900
Home 2:
$306,000
Home 3:
$266,910
Home 4:
$201,456
Based upon this information, which house has a standardized value that is relatively closest to zero?
a. Home 1
b. Home 2
c. Home 3
d. Home 2 and home 3
Keywords: mean standard deviation, standardized value, z-score
a standard deviation of $11,200. The mean and standard deviation in asking price for homes in Denver
are $188,468 and $8,230, respectively. Recently, one home sold in each city where the asking price for
each home was $193,000. Based on these data, which of the following conclusions can be made?
a. The two homes have approximately the same standardized values.
b. The distribution of asking prices in the two cities is bell-shaped.
c. The house in Baltimore is relatively further from the mean than the house in Denver.
d. The asking prices of homes in Denver is less variable than those in Baltimore.
Keywords: mean, standard deviation, standardized value, z-score
a standard deviation of $11,200. The mean and standard deviation in asking price for homes in Denver
are $188,468 and $8,230, respectively. Recently, one home sold in each city where the asking price for
each home was $193,000. Assuming that both distributions are bell-shaped, which of the following
statements is true?
a. The Baltimore home has the higher standard z value.
b. The coefficient of variation for Denver is less than for Baltimore.
c. The Denver home has a higher standard z value
d. both cities have the same coefficient of variation
Keywords: mean, standard deviation, standardized value, z-score
112. A report on spending by adults on recreation stated the following: At least 75 percent of the people
in the survey spend between $750 and $1,250 per year. The report also said that at least 88 percent spend
between $625 and $1,375 per year. Given this information, which of the following is most apt to be true?
a. The standard deviation is approximately $125.
b. The distribution of spending on recreation can be assumed to be bell-shaped.
c. The standard deviation is approximately $187.5
d. The standard deviation is approximately $250
Answer: A (Difficult)
Keywords: standard deviation, Tchebysheff
68
113. The distribution of actual weight of potato chips in a 16 ounce sack is thought to be bell-shaped with
a mean equal to 16 ounces and a standard deviation equal to 0.45 ounces. Based on this, between what
two limits could we expect 95 percent of all sacks to weigh?
a. 14 to 18 ounces
b. 15.10 to 16.90 ounces
c. 15.55 to 16.45 ounces
d. 14.65 to 17.35 ounces
Keywords: standard deviation, empirical rule
114. A recent study in the restaurant business determined that the mean tips for male waiters per hour of
work are $6.78 with a standard deviation of $2.11. The mean tips per hour for female waiters are $7.86
with a standard deviation of $2.20. Based on this information, which of the following statements do we
know to be true?
a. The distribution of tips for both males and females is right-skewed.
b. The variation in tips received by females is more variable than males.
c. The median tips for females exceeds that of males.
d. On a relative basis, males have more variation in tips per hour than do
females.
Keywords: mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation
115. Data was collected on the number of television sets in a household, and it was found that the mean
was 3.5 and the standard deviation was 0.75
Based on these sample data what is the standardized value corresponding to 5 televisions?
a. 2.00
b. 1.5
c. 2.00
d. 1.125
Keywords: mean, standard deviation, sample, z-score, standardized value
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

(The questions in this section cover material from throughout the chapter. The answers that are
provided are only suggested responses. Individual student responses will vary. The suggested
answer contains the key points that student answers should include.)
116. Suppose that the distribution of grocery purchases is thought to be symmetric. If the mean purchase
is $23.14, what would the median purchase be?
ANSWER:
For a symmetric distribution, the mean and median are equal. Therefore, the median purchase
should also be $23.14.
(Easy)
Keywords: mean, median, symmetric, distribution
69
117. The AMI Company has two assembly lines in its Kansas City plant. Line A produces an average of
335 units per day with a standard deviation equal to 11 units. Line B produces an average of 145 units
per day with a standard deviation equal to 8 units. Based on this information, which line is relatively
more consistent?
ANSWER:
At first glance it may appear that Line B is more consistent since it has a smaller standard
deviation. However, if we wish to compare relative variability when the means of two distributions are
different, then we need to compute the coefficient of variation for each. The one with the smallest
coefficient of variation is the more consistent. The coefficient of variation is given by:
s
100
x
s
11
CV 100 =
100 3.28%
x
335
CV
Then for Line A we get:
For Line B we get: CV
s
8
100 =
100 5.52%
x
145
Thus, Line A is the more consistent of the two lines with respect to daily production output.
(Moderate)
Keywords: mean standard deviation, relative variation, coefficient of variation
70
118. The following sample data reflect electricity bills for ten households in San Diego in March.
Determine three measures of central tendency for these sample data. Then, based on these measures,
determine whether the sample data are symmetric or skewed.
ANSWER:
The three measures of central tendency are the mean, median, and mode. These are computed as
follows:
n
Mean -
x
i 1
$1086.03
$108.60
10
Median - arrange the data in order from low to high. Since we have an even number of values,
the median is the mean of the 5th and 6th values.
The median is found as:
$110 .34 $118 .20
$114 .27
2
Mode: The mode is the value in the data that occurs most frequently. Since no value in this
sample occurs more frequently than one time, there is no mode.
Md
Data are symmetric if the mean and the median are equal. Since the sample mean = $108.60 and
the median equals $114.27 the data are not symmetric. Since the mean is less than median, we conclude
that the sample data are left-skewed.
(Moderate)
Keywords: central tendency, mean, median, mode
71
119. The following sample data reflect electricity bills for ten households in San Diego in March.
Compute the range, variance, and standard deviation for these sample data. Discuss which of these three
measures you would prefer to use as a measure of variation.
ANSWER:
The range is found as follows:
Range High Low = $144.56 - $67.88 = $76.68
The sample variance is found using:

s2
(x x)
n 1
We begin by determining the sample mean:
x
i 1
$1086.03
$108.60
10
We then sum the deviations of the individual values from the sample mean giving:
(x x)
6236.89
We now divide this sum by n-1 giving:

s2
(x x)
n 1
Thus, the sample variance is 692.99.
6236.89
692.99
9
The sample standard deviation is found by taking the square root of the sample variance:
s
(x x)
692.99 $26.32
n 1
Thus, the sample standard deviation is $26.32.
Although the range is far easier to compute, it contains information only from the extremes in the data.
The variance is in squared units and therefore does not have any meaning in the context of money spent
on electricity. The standard deviation is preferred since it uses all the data in its calculation and is
expressed in the original units.
(Moderate)
Keywords: mean, standard deviation, range, variance
120. Why is it that when we find the sample standard deviation, we divide by the n-1 but when we find
the population standard deviation we divide by n?
72
ANSWER:
The technical answer to this question is beyond the scope of the text. However, we can think of it
this way. If our objective in computing the sample standard deviation is to estimate the population
standard deviation, we would want an estimate that would be correct on the average. That means that if
we took repeated random samples from the population and for each sample we computed the standard
deviation, we would want the average of the sample standard deviations to equal the population standard
deviation. If our formula for the sample standard deviation uses n-1, this occurs.
(Difficult)
Keywords: sample, population, standard deviation
121. Explain how the empirical rule can be used to help describe data in a population or a sample.
ANSWER:
The empirical rule applies when the data distribution is bell-shaped. When this is the case, we
know that approximately 68 percent of the data will fall with + 1 standard deviation of the mean,
approximately 95 percent will fall within + 2 standard deviations of the mean, and virtually all of the data
will fall within + 3 standard deviations of the mean. Thus, by knowing that the distribution is bell-shaped
and by knowing the mean and standard deviation, we know more about how the individual data are
arranged.
(Moderate)
Keywords: empirical rule, bell-shaped, standard deviation
122. Explain how the Tchebysheffs theorem can be used to help describe data in a population or a
sample.
ANSWER:
If the data in a sample or a population are known to be bell-shaped, the empirical rule can be used
to help us describe the data. However, when the sample or the population is not bell-shaped,
Tchebysheffs theorem is very useful. It is a conservative theorem because it applies to any distribution.
If we know the mean and standard deviation, Tchebysheff tells us that at least 75 percent of the data
values will fall with + 2 standard deviations of the mean and at least 88 percent will lie within 3 standard
deviations of the mean. Keep in mind that in most instances, the percentage of observations will exceed
these minimum amounts, but at least it gives us some idea of how the data are distributed without actually
looking at all the data.
(Moderate)
Keywords: Tchebysheff, data, population, sample
73
123. Explain what is meant by percentiles and quartiles.

ANSWER:
Percentiles and Quartiles are measures that help us understand how the data are distributed.
Percentiles divide the data into 100 parts so that the same number of observations fall in each percentile.
In order to construct the percentiles, the data must be arranged in order from low to high. The percentile
value is determined by determining the location of the data value that corresponds to the percent of the
way through the ordered data that we wish to go. For example, if we want to find the 80 th percentile, we
locate the value using:
P
n where P = 80 and n equal the number of values in the data set. If we have
100
1400 data values, then the 80th percentile value is:
i
P
80
n =
1400 1,120
But since this is an integer, we would compute
100
100
the 80th percentile to be the average of the 1,120th and 1,121st values in the data.
i
Quartiles are similar to percentages except that the ordered data are divided into four segments
with an equal number of values in each. The 1st quartile corresponds to the 25th percentile, the 2nd quartile
corresponds to the 50th percentile, and the 3rd quartile corresponds to the 75th percentile.
(Moderate)
Keywords: percentile, quartile
124. Consumer products are required by law to contain at least as much as the amount printed on the
package. For example a bag of potato chips that is labeled as 10 ounces should contain at least 10 ounces.
Assume that the standard deviation of the packaging equipment yields a bag weight standard deviation of
0.2 ounces. Explain what average bag weight must be used to achieve at least 97.5% of the bags having
10 or more ounces in the bag Assume the bag weight distribution is bell shaped.
ANSWER:
If the average bag weight were 10 ounces this would mean only 50% of the bags would weigh enough
and the other 50% would be underweight, so the average must be set higher to achieve 97.5% having at
least 10 ounces. We want to allow only 2.5% of the bags be under-weight. Based on the empirical rule,
about 95% of the bags will be within 2 standard deviations of the mean. This means that 5% of the bags
will be further from the mean, and since the distribution is symmetrical that puts 2.5% in each tail.
Therefore the mean needs to be 2 standard deviations above 10 to have only 2.5% in the lower tail below
10 ounces.
Z = -2.0 = 10 -
so, = 10 + 2.0(0.2) = 10.4 ounces
0.2
(Difficult)
Keywords: standardized value, empirical distribution
74
125. What is meant by the concept, standardizing the data? Explain why a decision maker may wish to
compute a standardized value.
ANSWER:
The concept, standardized data, refers to the number of standard deviations a value is from the
mean of the sample or population from which it was selected. The standardized value is referred to as the
z-value and is computed as follows:
(x )
The reason that we might want to use the standardized value rather than the original value is if we are
interested in comparing individual values from two or more distributions that have different means and
standard deviations. By comparing z-values, we are able to determine which original value falls
relatively more closely to its mean or which value is relatively more extreme compared to the other data
in the sample or population.
(Moderate)
Keywords: standardized value, z-score, mean, standard deviation
75

Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

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Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

8. You are given the following data:

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

15. You are given the following data:

Based on this information, the mode for the data is 140.

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

3-2 Measures of Variation

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

3-3 Using the Mean and Standard Deviation Together

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

74. The most frequently used measure of central tendency is:

For these data the sample mean is:

For these data the median is:

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

3-2 Measures of Variation

Given these data, what is the variance?

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Given these data, what is the interquartile range?

Based on these data, what is the standard deviation?

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Keywords: standard deviation, population

Which of the following statements is true?

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

3-3 Using the Mean and Standard Deviation Together

The coefficient of variation of commute miles for the males is:

Which of the following statements is true?

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Keywords: coefficient of variation, mean, standard deviation

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Then for Line A we get:

For Line B we get: CV

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Range High Low = $144.56 - $67.88 = $76.68

The sample variance is found using:

We begin by determining the sample mean:

We now divide this sum by n-1 giving:

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

123. Explain what is meant by percentiles and quartiles.

Chapter 3: Describing Data Using Numerical Measures

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