6B Handling Data
6B Handling Data
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HANDLING
DATA
Part B
Contents of Part B
Preface
Activities
Tests
Answers
Contents of Part A
Preface
Introductory Notes
Worked Examples and Exercises
Answers
We hope that you find this module helpful. Comments should be sent to:
Professor D. N. Burghes
CIMT, School of Education
University of Exeter
EXETER EX1 2LU
ACTIVITIES
The diagrams below illustrate various data from a variety of statistics. Look carefully at
the presentations and suggest ways in which each could be improved.
125
1.0
CHIC-CHOC
Sales
120 millions
Sales per
(thousands) week
YUMMY BAR
115
0.5
WOW!
110
105
84 85 86 87 88
• Why is this illustration misleading?
• What does this graph show?
• Why is it misleading?
5. Methods of travelling to work
A survey of how 1000 people travel to
2. Road deaths in Scotland
work gave these results.
Car: 430 Bus: 356
Drivers or Motor-
passengers cyclists Train: 136 Other: 78
in cars
Pedal cyclists
This is illustrated in the pictogram below.
Pedestrians Car
Bus
There are many ways of representing data. For example, you are probably familiar with
histograms and bar charts
but there is another very simple way which quickly gives an overall view of the general
characteristics of the data. This is called a
Stem and Leaf Plot
The following example illustrates how it works.
Example
The marks gained out of 50 by 15 pupils in a Biology test are given below.
Stem Leaf
27 36 24 17 35 18 23 25
0
34 25 41 18 22 24 42
1 7 8 8
2 7 4 3 5 5 2 4
We form a Stem and Leaf Plot by recording the marks 3 6 5 4
with the tens as the 'stem' and the units as the 'leaf', as 4 1 2
shown opposite.
The leaf part is then reordered to give a final plot as shown.
Stem Leaf
This gives at a glance both an impression of the spread 0
of the numbers and an indication of the average. 1 7 8 8
2 2 3 4 4 5 5 7
3 4 5 6
4 1 2
1. Form a Stem and Leaf Plot for the following data.
21 7 9 22 17 15 31 5 17 22 19 18 23
10 17 18 21 5 9 16 22 17 19 21 20
There is no one correct way of representing data. The best representation depends on
the purpose for which the data is being used.
2. The ages of drivers involved in fatal road accidents in England during one week are
given below.
17 82 40 48 21 35 23 24 18 57 62 45
20 21 33 27 24 37 58 69 65 19 15 21
28 71 43 31 73 26 18 21 34 35 51 63
23 65 22 45 23 27 18 19 32 25 61 36
Which do you think is the most informative way of representing the data?
Sometimes data sets have to be summarised by a single value, usually called an average.
There are three types of average measures commonly used:
sum of values
1. The MEAN value of a set of data is .
number of values
What is the mean (to 2 d.p.) of the times given in the table?
3. The MODE is the value which occurs most often, i.e. the most popular.
What is the mode of the times in the table above?
4. Which of the three measures do you think is most representative of the average time?
Give your reasons.
The bodies of most people are in proportion. If you are particularly tall, then you
will probably also have long arms and legs and large hands, etc. The purpose of this
activity is to attempt to see how clear-cut these relationships are.
We say that two variables have positive correlation if they increase in proportion.
Different types of correlation are sketched below in scatter diagrams.
y y y y y
x x x x x
Strong negative Weak negative No Weak postive Strong positive
correlation correlation correlation correlation correlation
2. (a) Taking the y variable as height and x as one of the other variables, draw
scatter diagrams for each x variable.
(b) Determine the type of correlation in each case.
6.1 1. Although the number of singles is on a downward trend, it is not as pronounced as shown
in the graph, where the vertical scale starts at 105 (thousands).
A better representation is shown below.
125
Singles 100
sold 75
(in
thousands) 50
25
84 85 86 87 88
Year
2. It is difficult to draw any conclusions, except the ratios between the various categories. It
would be more helpful to know
(a) the time length of the survey,
(b) the total number of road deaths and as a proportion of the population,
(c) the proportion of cars / motorcycles / cyclists on the roads.
4. The illustration is 3-dimensional and not in proportion, making the Chic-Choc Bar sales
look even more dominant. It would be better to use a bar chart (with equal widths).
5. This is a complete mess! The scale is missing (e.g. each symbol ≡ 100 people).
When using a pictogram each 'shape' must have equal width – here the 'bus' is much
larger than the 'car'. The data has been rounded to the nearest hundred – this is a poor
approximation when the sample is only 1000.
It is probably better to use a bar chart or a pie chart.
6.3 1. 12.59
2. (c) 13
3. 10
6. (a) mean = £155, median = £160, mode = £140 (b) the mean
TESTS
Answer these questions as quickly as you can, but without the use of a calculator.
5. When the number 5 is added to a set of 3 numbers, the mean value is 6.5.
What is the mean of the original three numbers?
6. The mean of a set of 4 numbers is 5. When a fifth number is added to the set,
the mean increases to 6. What is the value of the fifth number?
Answer these questions as quickly as you can, but without the use of a calculator.
5. The mean of a set of 5 numbers is 3. When another number is added, the mean
increases to 3.5. What is the number added?
6. When the number 2 is added to a set of 5 numbers, the mean value is 4.5.
What is the mean value of the original set of numbers?
(a) Write down the name of the manufacturer of the cheapest shoe. (1 mark)
(b) How much dearer is the Strider than the Racer? (2 marks)
(LON)
2. The bar chart below shows the proportions of blood donors in 14 different countries.
Blood
donations per 1000 total population
Switzerland 97
Denmark 83
Finland 62
Belgium 60
France 58
Sweden 52
Scotland 52
W Germany 51
US 50
Norway 47
England 46
Netherlands 45
Spain 23
Portugal 19
3. 250
Number
of wells
drilled 200
150
100
50
0
1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
Year
The bar chart shows the number of oil wells drilled in the North Sea between 1983 and 1993.
(a) In which year were the most wells drilled? (1 mark)
(b) How many wells were drilled in 1988? (1 mark)
(c) How many wells were drilled in 1991? (1 mark)
(LON)
(6 marks)
(b) Which type of home is the mode? (1 mark)
(SEG)
5. The Severn Trent Water Company published a report on household water usage.
The pie chart shows the average amounts of water used per day by one person.
Other
Washing
Machine
Flushing
the Toilet
6. The waiting times, rounded down to the nearest minute, for 60 patients at a certain clinic are as
follows:
25 12 53 8 26 5 19 73 67 18
87 42 6 21 14 19 12 15 13 36
36 16 72 36 13 37 11 51 39 32
30 47 6 22 68 25 98 23 45 22
7 9 26 35 27 48 58 56 29 20
32 62 80 41 58 17 54 15 14 74
(b) For the Grade B eggs the range is 6 boxes and the mean is 12.2 boxes.
Use this information to compare the two Grades.
Which Grade would you recommend the shopkeeper to stock?
Give a reason. (2 marks)
(NEAB)
8. The table shows the time spent on homework in one week by the students in classes 9A, 9B
and 9C.
Time spent Number of students
(to nearest hour) 9A 9B 9C
1 1 0 1
2 4 5 0
3 4 6 2
4 5 5 1
5 1 0 0
6 3 2 4
7 0 0 6
8 0 2 3
9 2 0 1
10 0 0 2
Total 20 20 20
(a) Write down the class which had the highest mean time. (1 mark)
(b) Which class had the lowest modal time? (1 mark)
(c) Which class's times were less spread out than the others? (1 mark)
(d) What was the modal time for all 60 students? (2 marks)
(e) What was the median time for class 9C? (2 marks)
(SEG)
9. At the end of a typing course all the students are tested. The time taken to type 60 words is
recorded.
The table shows the distribution of their times.
Time
Number of students
(w seconds)
0 ≤ w < 20 0
20 ≤ w < 40 7
40 ≤ w < 60 19
60 ≤ w < 80 11
80 ≤ w < 100 3
10. The number of children per family in a recent survey of 21 families is shown.
1 2 3 2 2 4 2 2
3 2 2 2 3 2 2 2
4 1 2 3 2
(a) What is the range in the number of children per family. (1 mark)
1. 3 1. 4
2. 3 2. 3
3. 2 3. 1
4. 5 4. 8
1
5. 6 5. 5
2
6. 7 6. 6
7. 2 7. 4
8. 3 8. 5
9. 7 9. 6
10. 10 10. 5
2. (a) 6 B1
(b) France B1
(c) This is only true if the total populations are the same B2
(4 marks)
3. (a) 1990 B1
(b) 200 B1
(c) 230 (allow 227 to 233) B1
(3 marks)
Pie chart B1
(b) Bungalow B1
(7 marks)
5. (a) 48° B1
48
(b) × 30 = 4 M2 A1
360
48 2
(c) = M1 A1
360 15
(6 marks)
6. (a) 0–9 6
10–19 14
20–29 11
30–39 9
40–49 5
50–59 6
60–69 3
70–79 3
80–89 2
90–99 1 B2
(b)
Frequency
16
14
12
10
B2
8
(B1 if only minor mistake made)
6
4
2
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Waiting Times
(c) 10–19 B1
(5 marks)
7. (a) (i) 16 – 14 = 2 B1
76
(ii) mean = = 15.2 M1 A1
5
(b) B has greater range but lower mean - hence choose B. B1 B1
(5 marks)
8. (a) 9C B1
(b) 9B B1
(c) 9B B1
(d) 3 B2
(e) 7 B2
(7 marks)