SAN AGUSTIN INTEGRATED SCHOOL

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

San Agustin Libon, Albay STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY

Topic 13: Percentiles and t-distribution

Percentiles have been discussed on your Grade 10 and their uses. These were also discussed that percentiles are
identifier of a student’s performance in comparison to the performance of the whole class.
In this lesson, you will explore and understand the student’s t-distribution and identify the percentiles using the
t-tables.
Before we discuss percentiles and t-distribution, it is necessary to study first the concept of percentiles. Let us
have a recall about percentiles. Answer all the activities provided for you. Good luck and have a good time answering the
module.

ACTIVITY 1 – REVIEW
A. Using the given data below, find the following percentiles. 40, 45, 50, 50, 56, 60, 65, 80, 90
1. 10th percentile
2. 25th percentile
3. 50th percentile
4. 75th percentile
5. 95th percentile
B. Answer the following questions.
1. If Peter is higher than the 75 % of the class, what is his percentile rank?
2. If the 50th percentile of the scores of the class is 80, what will be the median?
3. If the scores of the 3 students are 45, 50, and 60, what will be the 25th percentile?
4. If the scores are 20, 30, 50, 60, 70, 75, and 80, what will be 75th percentile?
5. The percentile rank of Rose is 50, what percent of the class is her score belongs?

ACTIVITY 2
Find 5 words on the puzzle below. For each word you find, make a brief definition or expectation about the word.
P E R C E N T I L E A S C E R T T G Y D

D S F F C B D S G H J K L F C B B L E E

C D V R R H I C M N O D R R R H B Y J G

F C B G H T S V D S E R T G H T N J U R

R R H T K Y T T A B L E F T K Y B Y J E

G H T G J J R J J B Y J G G J J G H J E

T K Y H U K I U K N J U V H U K L U E O

G J J B Y A B J J B Y J V S D F G H J F

H U K N J S U E F G H J K Q S A T F B F

K Y Q M K D T V A L U E Q C V Y N M L R

I T A R L F I Q W E R T Y U I O O O J E

O L E V E L O F S I G N I F I C A N C E

R W D A L B N F R F K Y H U K E R N F D

T F E J J B Y C E G J J B Y A D T Y R O

L Q W U K N J E E G U K N J S C W E R M

P W M L I M I T E D Y Q M K D F G H J Y
1. Using the words that you have found, what are the things that come into your mind?
2. What are the possible things or applications of these words in statistics?
3. Recalling your topic in normal distribution, how will it be related to the normal curve?
1

The answer in this question requires an understanding of t-distribution.

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 The t-distribution (also called Student’s t-distribution) is a family of distributions that look almost
identical to the normal distribution curve, only a bit shorter and stouter. The t-distribution is used instead of the
normal distribution when you have small samples. The larger the sample size, the more the t distribution looks
like the normal distribution. In fact, for sample sizes larger than 20 (e.g. more degrees of freedom), the
distribution is almost exactly like the normal distribution.
The t-distribution is similar to a normal distribution. It has a precise mathematical definition. Instead of
diving into complex math, let’s look at the useful properties of the t-distribution and why it is important in
analysis of any set of statistical quantitative data.
• Like the normal distribution, the t-distribution has a smooth shape.
• Like the normal distribution, the t-distribution is symmetric. If you think about folding it in half at the
mean, each side will be the same.
• Like a standard normal distribution (or z-distribution), the t-distribution has a mean of zero.
• The normal distribution assumes that the population standard deviation is known.
The t-distribution does not make this assumption.
• The t-distribution is defined by the degrees of freedom. These are related to the sample size.
• The t-distribution is most useful for small sample sizes, when the population standard deviation is not
known, or both.
• As the sample size increases, the t-distribution becomes more similar to a normal distribution.

Using the t-table, shown on the next page we can be able to identify the t value of a certain data.
Let us be familiar first with the following words:
1. Degree of freedom - This refers to the maximum number of logically independent values which vary in
the data sample.
2. Percentile – This is a measure of position with data divided into 100 parts.

Below is the t-table which you can use to find the t-value
right tailed area ( α )
df/v
0.40 0.25 0.10 0.05 0.025 0.01 0.005 0.0025 0.0010 0.0005
1 0.325 1.000 3.078 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 127.321 318.309 636.619
2 0.289 0.816 1.886 2.920 4.303 6.965 9.925 14.089 22.327 31.599
3 0.277 0.765 1.638 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 7.453 10.215 12.924
4 0.271 0.741 1.533 2.132 2.776 3.747 4.604 5.598 7.173 8.610
5 0.267 0.727 1.476 2.015 2.571 3.365 4.032 4.773 5.893 6.869
6 0.265 0.718 1.440 1.943 2.447 3.143 3.707 4.317 5.208 5.959
7 0.263 0.711 1.415 1.895 2.365 2.998 3.499 4.029 4.785 5.408
8 0.262 0.706 1.397 1.860 2.306 2.896 3.355 3.833 4.501 5.041
9 0.261 0.703 1.383 1.833 2.262 2.821 3.250 3.690 4.297 4.781
10 0.260 0.700 1.372 1.812 2.228 2.764 3.169 3.581 4.144 4.587
11 0.260 0.697 1.363 1.796 2.201 2.718 3.106 3.497 4.025 4.437
12 0.259 0.695 1.356 1.782 2.179 2.681 3.055 3.428 3.930 4.318
13 0.259 0.694 1.350 1.771 2.160 2.650 3.012 3.372 3.852 4.221
14 0.258 0.692 1.345 1.761 2.145 2.624 2.977 3.326 3.787 4.140
15 0.258 0.691 1.341 1.753 2.131 2.602 2.947 3.286 3.733 4.073
16 0.258 0.690 1.337 1.746 2.120 2.583 2.921 3.252 3.686 4.015
17 0.257 0.689 1.333 1.740 2.110 2.567 2.898 3.222 3.646 3.965
18 0.257 0.688 1.330 1.734 2.101 2.552 2.878 3.197 3.610 3.922
19 0.257 0.688 1.328 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861 3.174 3.579 3.883
20 0.257 0.687 1.325 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.153 3.552 3.850
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21 0.257 0.686 1.323 1.721 2.080 2.518 2.831 3.135 3.527 3.819
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 22 0.256 0.686 1.321 1.717 2.074 2.508 2.819 3.119 3.505 3.792
23 0.256 0.685 1.319 1.714 2.069 2.500 2.807 3.104 3.485 3.768
24 0.256 0.685 1.318 1.711 2.064 2.492 2.797 3.091 3.467 3.745
25 0.256 0.684 1.316 1.708 2.060 2.485 2.787 3.078 3.450 3.725
26 0.256 0.684 1.315 1.706 2.056 2.479 2.779 3.067 3.435 3.707
27 0.256 0.684 1.314 1.703 2.052 2.473 2.771 3.057 3.421 3.690
28 0.256 0.683 1.313 1.701 2.048 2.467 2.763 3.047 3.408 3.674
29 0.256 0.683 1.311 1.699 2.045 2.462 2.756 3.038 3.396 3.659
30 0.256 0.683 1.310 1.697 2.042 2.457 2.750 3.030 3.385 3.646
40 0.255 0.681 1.303 1.684 2.021 2.423 2.704 2.971 3.307 3.551
60 0.254 0.679 1.296 1.671 2.000 2.390 2.660 2.915 3.232 3.460
120 0.254 0.677 1.289 1.658 1.980 2.358 2.617 2.860 3.160 3.373

Illustrative example:
1. Identify the t-value whose number of samples n = 7 and has an area (𝛼) equal to 0.05.
2. Find the t-value whose degree of freedom is 20 and has 𝛼 = 0.01.
3. Identify the t-value of the following percentiles given the number of samples.
a. 95th percentile , N= 30
b. 90th percentile, N=20

Solution:
1. To identify the t-value, identify first the given and the degree of freedom using the formula 𝑑𝑓 = 𝑛 − 1
where 𝑛 is the sample size.
Given: 𝑛 = 7, 𝛼 = 0.05
𝑑𝑓 = 𝑛 − 1 = 7 − 1 = 6
Locate the t-value on the t-table using the degree of freedom and the area (𝛼)
right tailed area ( α )
df/v 0.40 0.25 0.10 0.05 0.025 0.01 0.005 0.0025 0.0010 0.0005
1 0.325 1.000 3.078 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 127.321 318.309 636.619
2 0.289 0.816 1.886 2.920 4.303 6.965 9.925 14.089 22.327 31.599
3 0.277 0.765 1.638 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 7.453 10.215 12.924
4 0.271 0.741 1.533 2.132 2.776 3.747 4.604 5.598 7.173 8.610
5 0.267 0.727 1.476 2.015 2.571 3.365 4.032 4.773 5.893 6.869
6 0.265 0.718 1.440 1.943 2.447 3.143 3.707 4.317 5.208 5.959
7 0.263 0.711 1.415 1.895 2.365 2.998 3.499 4.029 4.785 5.408
Therefore, the t-value with sample size of 7 and has 𝛼 = 0.05 is 1.943.

2. Since the degree of freedom and 𝛼 are already given locate the t-value on the t-table.
right tailed area ( α )
df/v
0.40 0.25 0.10 0.05 0.025 0.01 0.005 0.0025 0.0010 0.0005
1 0.325 1.000 3.078 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 127.321 318.309 636.619
2 0.289 0.816 1.886 2.920 4.303 6.965 9.925 14.089 22.327 31.599
… … … … … … … … … … …
… … … … … … … … … … …
… … … … … … … … … … …
19 0.257 0.688 1.328 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861 3.174 3.579 3.883
3

20 0.257 0.687 1.325 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.153 3.552 3.850
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 Therefore, the t-value is 2.528.
3. a. The 95th percentile is the number where 95% of the values lie below it and 5% lie above it, so you want
the right-tail area to be 0.05. Move across the row, find the column for 0.05, and then locate the t-value
using n=30 or df = 29.
right tailed area ( α )
df/v
0.40 0.25 0.10 0.05 0.025 0.01 0.005 0.0025 0.0010 0.0005
1 0.325 1.000 3.078 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 127.321 318.309 636.619
2 0.289 0.816 1.886 2.920 4.303 6.965 9.925 14.089 22.327 31.599
3 0.277 0.765 1.638 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 7.453 10.215 12.924
4 0.271 0.741 1.533 2.132 2.776 3.747 4.604 5.598 7.173 8.610
… … … … … … … … … … …
… … … … … … … … … … …
… … … … … … … … … … …
27 0.256 0.684 1.314 1.703 2.052 2.473 2.771 3.057 3.421 3.690
28 0.256 0.683 1.313 1.701 2.048 2.467 2.763 3.047 3.408 3.674
29 0.256 0.683 1.311 1.699 2.045 2.462 2.756 3.038 3.396 3.659
30 0.256 0.683 1.310 1.697 2.042 2.457 2.750 3.030 3.385 3.646
So therefore, the t-value of P95 with n= 30 is 1.699.

b. The 90th percentile is the number where 90% of the values lie below it and 10% lie above it, so you want the
right-tail area to be 0.10. Move across the row, find the column for 0.10, and then locate the t-value using n=20
or df = 19.
right tailed area ( α )
df/v
0.40 0.25 0.10 0.05 0.025 0.01 0.005 0.0025 0.0010 0.0005
1 0.325 1.000 3.078 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 127.321 318.309 636.619
2 0.289 0.816 1.886 2.920 4.303 6.965 9.925 14.089 22.327 31.599
… … … … … … … … … … …
… … … … … … … … … … …
… … … … … … … … … … …
19 0.257 0.688 1.328 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861 3.174 3.579 3.883
20 0.257 0.687 1.325 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.153 3.552 3.850
Therefore, the t-value of 90th percentile with n= 20 is 1.328

Activity 3
Complete the table below by identifying the degree of freedom, right-tailed area and the t-value for each
percentiles and the sample size.

Percentile n df Right tailed area t

1. 60th percentile 2

2. 75th percentile 5

3. 25th percentile 15

4. 90th percentile 7

5. 95th percentile 20
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Activity 4
With steps closer on closing this module, answer the following questions with at most 3 sentences. Write your
answer on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What are the characteristics of a t-distribution? (Give at least 3 characteristics).
2. Enumerate the steps on identifying the t-value using the number of samples and the right tailed area.
3. How to identify the t-value of a certain percentile using the t-table?

Activity 5
Triple Matching Type: Match column A (the t-value) to Column b (the degree of freedom) and then to column C
(the percentile).
A B C
th
1. 0.277 A. 1 a. 97.5 percentile
2. 1.734 B. 6 b. 90th percentile
3. 1.000 C. 18 c. 75th percentile
4. 1.345 D. 3 d. 95th percentile
5. 2.447 E. 14 e. 60th percentile

Activity 6
Rowena wants to test a randomly selected 20 students for her study. Identify the t-value of the following
percentiles.
1. 75th percentile
2. 5th percentile
3. 60th percentile
4. 40th percentile
5. 90th percentile

Activity 7
A researcher conducts a diagnostic examination to 20 students. The following are the interpretation of
the diagnostic examination.
1. James got a score which is 60% higher than those who took the diagnostic test.
2. Rowena has a percentile rank of 90.
3. Jimuel got a score which is only 5% higher than those who took the diagnostic test.
4. Joanna has a percentile rank of 75.
5. Lester is 90% lower than those who took the diagnostic test.

identify the t-value of the percentiles of the following by filling up the table:
Student t-value
1. Joanna
2. James
3. Jimuel
4. Lester
5. Rowena
Questions:
1. Who do you think got the highest score?
2. Who do you think passed the diagnostic examination?
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