The following three problems were adapted from
https://www.jcu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/115830/Basic-Statistics-3_Describing-
Data_Measures-of-Central-Tendency.pdf
1. Determine the median for the following data sets:
(a) 132, 139, 131, 138, 132, 139, 133, 137, 139;
(b) 25, 10, 16, 25, 12, 22, 20, 23, 13, 10;
(c) 25, 10, 16, 25, 12, 22, 20, 23, 13, 10.
SOLUTION:
(a) Consider set: 132, 139, 131, 138, 132, 139, 133, 137, 139
Rearrange from lowest to highest:
131, 132, 132, 133, 137, 138, 139, 139, 139
Middle value is 137
Median = 137
(b) Consider set: 25, 10, 16, 25, 12, 22, 20, 23, 13, 10
Rearrange from lowest to highest:
10, 10, 12, 13, 16, 20, 22, 23, 25, 25
Middle values are 16 and 20
Median = (16 + 20)/2 = 18
Median = 18
(c) Consider set: 56, 23, 48, 78, 94, 35, 88, 69, 44, 53, 27
Rearrange from lowest to highest:
23, 27, 35, 44, 48, 53, 56, 69, 78, 88, 94
Middle value is 53
Median = 53
2. Determine the mode for the following data sets:
(a) 132, 139, 131, 138, 132, 139, 133, 137, 139;
(b) 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 3, 6, 4, 8, 5, 4, 2, 4, 3, 5;
(c) 56, 23, 48, 78, 94, 35, 88, 69, 44, 53, 27.
SOLUTION:
(a) 132, 139, 131, 138, 132, 139, 133, 137, 139
Mode is 139, with 3 occurrences
(b) 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 3, 6, 4, 8, 5, 4, 2, 4, 3, 5
Modes are 3 and 5, each with 4 occurrences (this set is bimodal)
(c) 56, 23, 48, 78, 94, 35, 88, 69, 44, 53, 27
There is no mode; each value occurs only once.
3. Compare the effect of the outlier on the mean and median of the following set:
5, 6, 4, 7, 6, 19.
SOLUTION:
Mean with outlier: = (5 + 6 + 4 + 7 + 6 + 19)/6 = 9
Mean without outlier = (5 + 6 + 4 + 7 + 6)/5 = 5.6
Outlier increases mean of this set by almost 40%.
Median with outlier: 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 19
Median = (6+6)/2 = 6
Median with outlier: 4, 5, 6, 6, 7
Outlier has no effect of median of this set.
The following two problems were adapted from
http://mercury.educ.kent.edu/database/eureka/documents/LessonPlan_CalculatingCentralTendency.pdf
4. Consider these sets:
I. 19, 3, 10, 7, 19, 15, 80, 11, 4, 8, 16, 17.
II. 44, 39, 11, 44, 42, 38, 39, 44, 41.
Find for each set: (a) range; (b) mean; (c) median; (d) mode; (e) outliers; (f) which measure of central
tendency best describes this data?
SOLUTION:
I. First, put the data into ascending order: 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19, 19, 80.
(a) Range = 80 3 = 77;
(b) Mean = 209/12 = 17.4, rounded to the nearest tenth;
(c) Median = (11 + 15)/2 = 13 (even number of values, mean of two middle values);
(d) Mode = 19 (two occurrences);
(e) Outlier = 80, because it is considerably larger than each of the other values;
(f) The median is the best measure of central tendency for this dataset. The mode, 19, is too large. The
mean is too large because the outlier is so much bigger than the other values.
II. First put the data into ascending order: 11, 38, 39, 39, 41, 42, 44, 44, 44.
(a) Range = 44 11 = 33;
(b) Mean = 342/9 = 38;
(c) Median = 41;
(d) Mode = 44 (since it occurs most often, with three occurrences);
(e) Outlier = 11, because it is considerably smaller than the other numbers;
(f) The median is the best measure of central tendency because the mode is too large and the mean is
too small.
5. Consider a set of four observations: {2, 3, 6, 7}.
(a) What is the variance if this set is treated as a population?
(b) What is the variance if this set is treated as a sample?
SOLUTION:
(a) First Compute the population mean: = (2 + 3 + 6 + 7) / 4 = 4.5;
Second Put all known values into the formula for the variance of a population.
2 = ( Xi - )2 / N
2 = [ ( 2 4.5)2 + (3 4.5)2 + (6 4.5)2 + (7 4.5)2 ] / 4
2 = [ (-2.5)2 + (-1.5)2 + (2.5)2 + (3.5)2 ] / 4
2 = [ 6.25 + 2.25 + 6.25 + 12.25 ] / 4
2 = 27 / 4
2 = 6.75
(b) The variance of a sample, is defined by slightly different formula, and uses a slightly different
notation:
s2 = ( Xi X bar )2 / (n - 1) in which X bar =
s2 = 27/3
s2 = 9
The decision to treat the set as a population or as a sample can have major repercussions: make
it carefully!
