MATH LECTURE 4.

3
MEASURES OF POSITION (QUARTILES)
The QUARTILES are the score points which divide a distribution into four equal parts.
• twenty-five percent (25%) of the distribution are below the first quartile,
• fifty percent (50%) are below the second quartile, and
• seventy-five percent (75%) are below the third quartile.
𝑄1 is called the lower quartile and 𝑄3 is the upper quartile. 𝑄1 < 𝑄2 < 𝑄3 , where 𝑄2 is nothing but the median. The
difference between 𝑄3 and 𝑄1 is the interquartile range.
Since the second quartile is equal to the median, the steps in the computation of median by identifying the median
class is the same as the steps in identifying the Q1 class and the Q3 class.

a. 25% of the data has a value ≤ Q1

b. 50% of the data has a value ≤ X or Q2 (where X is the class mark)
c. 75% of the data has a value ≤ Q3
Example 1. The owner of a coffee shop recorded the number of customers who came into his cafe each hour in a
day. The results were 14, 10, 12, 9, 17, 5, 8, 9, 14, 10, and 11. Find the lower quartile and upper quartile of the data.
Solution:
• In ascending order, the data are 5, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10, 11, 12, 14, 14, 17.
• The least value in the data is 5 and the greatest value in the data is 17.
• The middle value in the data is 10.
• The lower quartile is the value that is between the middle value and the least value in the data set.
• So, the lower quartile is 9.
• The upper quartile is the value that is between the middle value and the greatest value in the data set.
• So, the upper quartile is 14.

Example 2. Find the average of the lower quartile and the upper quartile of the data.
Component Quantity
hard disk 290
monitors 370
keyboards 260
mouse 180
speakers 430
Solution:
• In increasing order, the data are 180, 260, 290, 370, 430.
• The least value of the data is 180 and the greatest value of the data is 430.
• The middle value of the data is 290.
• The lower quartile is the value that is between the least value and the middle value.
• So, the lower quartile is 260.
• The upper quartile is the value that is between the greatest value and the middle value.
• So, the upper quartile is 370.
• The average of the lower quartile and the higher quartile is equal to 315.

Example 3. The lower quartile of a data set is the 8th data value. How many data values are there in the data set?
Solution:
• The lower quartile is the median data value of the lower half of the data set.
• So, there are 7 data values before and after the lower quartile.
• So, the number of data values in the lower half is equal to 7 + 7 + 1.
• The number of values in the data set is equal to 𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓 + 𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓 + 1.
• The number of values in the lower and upper halves are equal.
• Formula: 15 + 15 + 1 = 31
• So, the data set contains 31 data values.
Another solution:
1
(𝑛 + 1) = 8
4
𝑛 + 1 = 32
𝒏 = 𝟑𝟏
Mendenhall and Sincich Method. Using Statistics for Engineering and the Sciences, define a different
method of finding quartile values. To apply their method on a data set with n elements, first calculate:
1
Lower Quartile (L) = Position of 𝑄1 = 4 (𝑛 + 1)
and round to the nearest integer. If L falls halfway between two integers, round up. The Lth element is the lower
quartile value (Q1).
Next calculate:
3
Upper Quartile (U) = Position of 𝑄3 = 4 (𝑛 + 1)
and round to the nearest integer. If U falls halfway between two integers, round down. The U th element is the upper
quartile value (Q3).
Example: 𝐷𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑡 = {1, 3 , 7, 7, 16 , 21, 27, 30 , 31}
𝑛=9
1
To find Q1, locate its position using the formula 𝑄1 = (𝑛 + 1) and round off to the nearest integer.
4
1
Position of 𝑄1 = (𝑛 + 1)
4
1
𝑄1 = (9 + 1)
4
1
𝑄1 = (10)
4
10
𝑄1 =
4
𝑄1 = 2.5 ≈ 𝟑
The computed value 2.5 becomes 3 after rounding up. The lower quartile value (Q1) is the 3rd data element, so
𝑄1 = 7. Similarly:
3
Position of 𝑄3 = (𝑛 + 1)
4
3
𝑄3 = (9 + 1)
4
3
𝑄3 = (10)
4
30
𝑄3 =
4
𝑄3 = 7.5 ≈ 𝟕
The computed value 7.5 becomes 7 after rounding down. The upper quartile value (Q3) is the 7th data element, so
𝑄3 = 27.
Using this method, the upper quartile (Q3) and lower quartile (Q1) values are always two of the data elements.

TRY IT:
Find the first quartile (Q1), second quartile (Q2), and the third quartile (Q3), given the scores of 10 students in their
Mathematics activity using Mendenhall and Sincich Method.
4 9 7 14 10 8 12 15 6 11

END OF MATH LECTURE 4.3