Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning

5.1 - Exploring Data

5.2 - Frequency Tables and Histograms

A measure of central tendency is a single value that attempts to describe a set of data by
identifying the central position within that set of data.

A measure of dispersion describes the spread of the data, or its variation around a central value.

In this first section, we will focus mainly on measures of central tendency. Later on we will
begin to investigate measures of dispersion

Definitions
• Mean – the _____________ of all the numbers in a set of data.
o To calculate, add all the numbers and divide by how many numbers there are
o Example: Determine the mean of the following numbers:
11 10 19 8 15 15 4 6 12 17

• Mode – the number that appears the _____________ in a set of data.

o To find, put the numbers in order and count how many there are of each number.
o Example: Determine the mode of the following numbers.
11 10 19 8 15 15 4 6 12 17

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 1

 • Median – the _____________ number.
o To find, put the numbers in order and determine the middle number. If there are
two different middle numbers, the median is the mean of these two numbers.
o Example: Determine the median of the following numbers.
11 10 19 8 15 15 4 6 12 17

• Range - the _________________ between the highest and the lowest values.
o To calculate, put the numbers in order and subtract the highest and the lowest
numbers.
o Example: Determine the range of the following numbers.
11 10 19 8 15 15 4 6 12 17

Example 1
Determine the mean, median, mode and range for the following data:
12 20 15 13 13 8 7 18 23 25

Calculator Tips

• For TI-83’s, it will automatically select the L1 list to calculate.

• Can scroll down for more information.
• Ensure that this is only used as a check, or on longer questions. You will need to
understand how to calculate each of the above.

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 2

Example 2
You are trying to decide between two different brands of car batteries. Both brands are the same
price, so you are going to base your choice on the lifespan of the batteries. After some research,
you find data for the lifespan, in years, of 12 batteries for each brand.

• Which brand would you choose? Justify your answer.

Frequency Distribution Graphs/Histograms

• Frequency is how often something occurs.
• By counting frequencies, we can make a frequency distribution table.
• A frequency distribution graph (or histogram) is a tool for organizing data. We use it
to group data into categories and show the number of observations in each category.

Example 3
As a class, let’s create our own survey on a topic of our choice. We will use this to create a
frequency table and then frequency distribution graph.
• Create a table for with our frequency data. Once compiled, draw your graph in the space
provided on the right.

• What is the mean, median, and mode for the data set? Use your calculator to determine.

We can also look at grouping data into “bins”. The next example will do that.

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 3

Example 4
Here are some test scores from a math class. Create a frequency table and display the results in a
histogram (graph).
• Note: upper limits are included in the intervals, not the lower limits.
1. Example: A data point of 50 would go into the 40 to 50 bin, not the 50 to 60.

% Interval Tally Frequency

41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 4

Assignment – Exploring Data/ Frequency Tables and Histograms

1. The average temperatures for Langley, BC and Windsor, Ontario are shown in the tables
below:

a) State the range, mean, and median for the average daily temperatures in the two
cities.

b) Compare the temperatures in the two cities. (Remember that compare means we want
similarities AND differences)

c) Ricky is trying to decide whether to move to Windsor or Langley. Ricky prefers a city
with a more consistent climate. Conclude which city Ricky should live in.

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 5

 2. Emmanuella walks her golden retriever regularly. She kept track of the lengths of her
walk for one month and grouped the data in a frequency table shown to the left. Using the
space provided below, draw a histogram that represents this kind of data.

5.3 – Standard Deviation

Standard Deviation - A measure of the dispersion or spread of data values in relation to the
mean.
• Represented by the symbol  (read as “sigma”)
• A low standard deviation indicates that most data values are close to the mean.

• A high standard deviation indicates that most data values are spread farther from the
mean.

So, the lower your standard deviation, the more consistent your data is.

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 6

Calculator Tips
To calculate standard deviation for a set of data, perform the same steps as when calculating the
mean and median. Data must be inputted as a list first.
• Note: If you have a frequency column given in your data you must
1. Input frequency values into the L2 list
2. When calculating 1-Var Stats, include L2 in your FreqList

Example 1
The mean age in two day cares is 4 years old. The standard deviation in Day Care A is 1.26. The
standard deviation in Day Care B is 2.32. Use the standard deviations to compare the
distributions of ages in the day cares.

Example 2
Twins Jordana and Jane wrote a total of 10 tests in math class. They have the same mean test
score, but different standard deviations. Explain how this is possible.

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 7

Example 3
The height of 5 players on the Cobras basketball team are as follows:

170 cm, 182 cm, 193 cm, 193 cm, 212 cm

• Determine the mean height.

• State the range.

• Calculate the standard deviation using your calculator. Confirm that your answer for the
mean height is also correct.

Example 4
Sarena keeps track of the amount she spends, in dollars, on weekly lunches during one semester:

18 24 27 25 28 36
23 31 24 30 37 29
30 18 28 27 17 27

• Determine the range, mean, and standard deviation, correct to two decimal places.

Example 5
Students wrote an exam, and their teacher composed the results in a frequency table shown
below. What is the mean and standard deviation, to the nearest tenth of a percentage) for the
exam results based on the information available below? (Note: refer to calculator tips on
previous page)

Scores (%) Frequency

60-70 5
70-80 9
80-90 8
90-100 3

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 8

Assignment – Standard Deviation

1. Ali bowls in a peewee league. Determine the mean and standard deviation of Ali’s
bowling scores, rounded to two decimal places.

2. Marie, Marie, a Métis beadwork artist, ordered packages of beads from two online
companies. She is weighing the packages because the sizes seem inconsistent. The
standard deviation of the masses of the packages from company A is 11.7 g. The standard
deviation of the masses of the packages from company B is 18.2 g.
a) What does this information tell you about the dispersion of the masses of the
packages from each company?

b) Marie is working on an important project. She needs to make sure that her next
order will contain enough beads to complete the project. Should she order from
company A or company B?

3. A health club monitors the number of hours per month that a random sample of their
members spend working out. This information is shown on the right.
a) Determine the mean and standard deviation of the
hours per month for members of each club, to one
decimal place.

b) The health clubs believe that workout consistency is

more important than workout length. Which club is
more successful at encouraging its members to work out
consistently?

Additional Questions: Pg. 261 #5, 6, 7

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 9

5.4 – The Normal Distribution

Exploration Activity
Create a histogram for the following frequency table regarding the heights of students. Note that
for this set of data that  = 170 cm .

Height Interval Frequency

(cm)
140-150 2
150-160 4
160-170 7
170-180 7
180-190 4
190-200 2

Height Frequency of Class

• What do we notice about the distribution of the data? Where is the data clustered? Where is
8
there less of the data? 7
6
Frequency

5
4
3
2
1
0
140-150 150-160 160-170 170-180 180-190 190-200

• Height (cm)
The shape of the histogram we just did follows a normal curve or normal distribution.
o Normal Curve: A symmetrical curve that represents a normal distribution.
o Normal Distribution: Data that, when graphed as a histogram or a frequency polygon,
results in a unimodal (aka only has one maximum) and symmetrical distribution about
the mean.
▪ This is also known as the “bell curve”

So, we can say that graphed data that looks like a bell curve is normally distributed. This means
that the data has special characteristics.

Properties of a Normal Distribution

• Symmetrical “bell” shape
• The mean lies in the middle of the curve (  )
• A standard deviation (  ) tells you how spread out your data is. It also compares your
data to the mean.

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 10

 • The percentages tell us how much data falls between specific values.
o  1 standard deviations from the mean contains 68% of the data
o  2 standard deviations from the mean contains 95% of the data
o  3 standard deviations from the mean contains 99.7% of the data
Percentage of Areas for Standard Deviations

Example 1
Stephanie has been collecting data about the weight of dogs over a 5-year period. The mean
weight of the dogs is 46.2 kg and the standard deviation is 1.6 kg.
• What is the value 1 standard deviation (  ) below the mean?

• What is the value 3 standard deviations (  ) above the mean?

• Stephanie continues collecting data for another 3 years. After analyzing this new data,
the mean weight of the dogs has increased to 48.3 kg. The value 2 standard deviations
above the mean is 50.5 kg. What is the new standard deviation?

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 11

Example 2
From data collected by forestry workers, the heights of trees in a particular forest are normally
distributed. The mean height is 3.5 m, with a standard deviation of 0.8 m.
• Label the normal curve with the mean and the values for  3 standard
deviations.

• What percent of trees is between heights of 2.7 m and 4.3 m?

• What percent of trees is between heights of 1.9 m and 5.1 m?

• What percent of trees have a height less than 1.9 m?

• If there are approximately 250 trees in this forest, how many trees are expected to have a
height of 5.1 m or less?

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 12

 Enter this Enter this
into L1 into L2
Example 3
Heidi is opening a snowboarding shop. Heidi surveyed 1000 men, aged 20-39
60.5
years old, to see which heights are most common. This will help her in deciding 61.5
what lengths of boards to order. Etc.
• Determine the mean height and standard deviation of the data to the
nearest tenth of an inch.
o Use the median for each range. Use a value of 60.5 for the first
column and 78.5 for the last.

• If the data approximates a normal curve, what percent of males surveyed

have a height of 66.5" to 72.5"?

Etc.
77.5
78.5
• Which heights fall within 2 standard deviations of the mean?

• What is the number of males who have a height between 66.5" to 75.5"?

• What is the number of males who have a height less than 72.5"?

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 13

Calculator Tips
In some questions, you will be given values that do not fall directly on a standard deviation away
from the mean. For these questions, we must use our calculators to solve. To solve for the
probability between two values we use normalcdf.
• On your calculator: 2nd function → DISTR → 2:normalcdf(min, max, mean, standard
deviation)
• Notes
o On TI-83, you must separate each value with a comma.
o For questions that don’t give two values, but rather ask what the probability is that
above or below a certain value, set the max or min to a very large value.
▪ Example, for the previous question of “What percent of trees have a height
less than 1.9 m?”, we would set calculator to normalcdf(-1000, 1.9, 3.5,
3.0)
• Go back and test values on previous examples.

Example 4
Jim raises Siberian Husky sled dogs. The masses of the dogs are normally distributed with a
mean of 52.5 lb and a standard deviation of 2.4 lb.
• What percent of adult huskies would you expect to have a mass between 47.7 and 54.9
lb?

• What percent of adult huskies would you expect to have a mass less than 52.5lb?

• What percent of adult huskies would you expect to have a mass more than 57.3lb?

• If Jim has 100 dogs in his kennels, approximately how many are expected to have a mass
between 47.7 and 54.9 lb?

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 14

Example 5
Two baseball teams flew to North America for a tournament. Each
team member had carry-on luggage for their sports equipment. The
masses of the carry-on luggage were normally distributed, with the
characteristics shown to the right.
a) Sketch a graph to show the distribution of the masses of the luggage for each team.

b) The women’s team won the championship which meant each person received a medal
and a souvenir ball to pack into their carry-on The souvenir and ball added a weight of
1.18 kg to each bag. Sketch a graph that shows how the distribution of the masses of their
carry-on luggage changed for the flight home.

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 15

Assignment – The Normal Distribution

1. The ages of members of a senior’s curling club are normally distributed, with a mean of
63 years and a standard deviation of 4 years. Label the normal curve with the mean and
the values for 3 standard deviations and then answer the questions below. If your
calculator was used, please show what was inputted.

a) What percentage of curlers are between 55 and 63 years old?

b) What percentage of curlers are between 67 and 75 years old?

c) What percentage of curlers are older than 75 years old?

d) If there are 300 curlers in the club, approximately how many of them are between
55 and 63 years old?

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 16

 2. Is the data in each set normally distributed? Draw a quick picture to support your answer.
a)

b)

c)

3. A school of 130 bottlenose dolphins is living in a protected environment. The life

expectancy of the dolphins is normally distributed, with a mean of 39 years and a
standard deviation of 3.5 years.
a) What is the life expectancy of a dolphin that lives 2 standard deviations below the
mean?

b) How many of these dolphins can be expected to live more than 46 years?

Additional Questions: Pg. 279 #2, 6, 8

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 17

5.5 – Z-Scores

Discussion Question: compare this to the Normal Distribution curve from Lesson 3. What is one
similarity and one difference between these two graphs?

Graph 2
Graph 1

Definitions
• Z-Score – A standardized value that indicates
the number of _______________________ of a
data value above or below the mean.
o The formula for a z-score is:
x−
z=

o Where:
▪ z is the calculated z-score
▪ x is the given value
▪  is the mean
▪  is the standard deviation
• Standard Normal Distribution – A normal
distribution that has a mean of zero and a
standard deviation of one.

Z-Scores allow us to compare data by seeing how many standard deviations a data value lies
from the mean.

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 18

Example 1
For each scenario given, calculate the z-score. If needed, round the z-scores to the nearest tenth.
• Edmonton’s average daily temperature in June is 21°C with a standard deviation of 3°C.
On a particular day in June, the temperature is 15°C.

• The average on a math exam is 72% with a standard deviation of 7%. A student achieved
a mark of 84%.

• The mean time for a sprint is 25.57 seconds with a standard deviation of 0.62 seconds.
An athlete has a run time of 24.77 seconds.

Example 2
IQ tests are sometimes used to measure a person's intellectual capacity at a particular time. IQ
scores are normally distributed, with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. If a person
scores 119 on an IQ test, how does this score compare with the scores of the general population?

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 19

Area Under the Curve and Z-Scores

Recall the standard distribution curve (seen on previous page). The number on the horizontal
axis represent the z-scores (or the number of standard deviations away from the mean).

The z-score tables give the area to the left of a particular z value as shown below. This area to the
left of z is denoted by A(z).

Areas under the curve are on the z-score table in your formula sheet!
• Note: basic z-scores have a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1.

Process for determining the area relative to a z-score depending on whether you are looking for
above or below the value.
• Determining area to the left (or below) of a z-score
o Determine required z-score
o Use table to look up A(z) of corresponding z-score
o Since the table gives us values to the left, no further calculations required.
• Determining area to the right (or above) of a z-score
o Determine required z-score
o Use table to look up A(z) of corresponding z-score
o Calculate the area above by going 1 − A( z ) . This will give area above z-score

Example 3
Determine the area under the standard normal curve for each z-score interval. Give the area as a
decimal and as a percent. Draw a quick diagram to help you.
a) z  1.78 b) z  2.61

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 20

 Calculator Tips
Can also use normalcdf when calculating areas with given z-scores.
• On your calculator: 2nd function → DISTR → 2:normalcdf(min, max, mean, standard
deviation)
• Note: mean must be 0 and standard deviation must be 1 when dealing with z-scores
• Multiply value by 100 to get a percentage

Go back and check previous answers using a calculator.

Example 4
For each z-score below, find the percent of area that lies under the graph as a decimal and a
percent. Draw a diagram to visualize the question and write what inputted into your calculator (if
applicable).
a) z  −0.09 b) z  −0.47 c) z  2.24

d) z  −2.07 e) z  0.24 f) z  1.17

g) z  −1.37 h) z  0.00

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 21

 How is a normal distribution related to a standard normal graph? We convert values to the z-
scores with the formula we used earlier in the unit!

x−
z=

Example 5
Suppose that we know about a population of a particular breed of cats having weights that are
normally distributed. Furthermore, suppose we know that the mean of the distribution is 10
pounds, and the standard deviation is 2 pounds.
• Determine the cats z-score if they weigh 13 pounds.

• If a cat had a z-score of -0.96 with the same mean and standard deviation, what would be
the weight of the cat?

Calculator Tips
If given an area, or percentage, we can determine a z-score using the InvNorm function
• On your calculator: 2nd function → DISTR → InvNorm(% as a decimal on the left,
mean, standard deviation)
c)
a) b)

Example 6
In a population, 80% of the adults are taller than 165 cm and 20% are taller than 187 cm.
Determine the mean height and standard deviation for this population.

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 22

Example 7
Shirley wants to buy a new cellphone. She researches cellphone longevity Life Span Frequency
and finds the following data, in years. 1.0-1.5 1
• If a cellphone company only wants to replace 5% of cellphones. 1.5-2.0 7
How long should they offer a warranty for? 2.0-2.5 17
2.5-3.0 18
3.0-3.5 6
3.5-4.0 1

Example 8
Jim raises Siberian Husky sled dogs. The masses of the dogs are normally distributed with a
mean of 52.5 lb and a standard deviation of 2.4 lb.
• If Jim wants to bring the heaviest 25% of his dogs to a competition, what is the mass of
the lightest dog he should bring?

Assignment – Z-Scores

1. Determine the z-score, to the nearest hundredth, for each value of x.

a)  = 24, = 2.8, x = 29.3 b)  = $165,  = $48, x = $36

2. Determine the area under the normal distribution curve to the nearest tenth of a percent.
a) z  −1.12 b) z  0.38 c) −0.67  z  1.87
−0.21  z  1.35

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 23

 3. Meg has received her standard exam results for both English and
Math. The results are shown on the table to the right.
a) What percentage of students scored lower than Meg in
English? Record your answer to the nearest hundredth of a
percent.

b) What percentage of students scored higher than Meg in Math? Record your
answer to the nearest hundredth of a percent.

c) Meg is considering either being an Engineer or a Writer. Which program does she
have the best chance of getting accepted into? Justify your response.

4. A height survey was conducted in Mr. Thomas’ Math 20-2 class. 50% of students were
shorter than 171 cm. The standard deviation for the class was 7cm. If there are 37
students in the class, approximately how many of them will be shorter than 183 cm?

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 24

 5. A tutor guarantees that 10% of her students will obtain an A on every test they write. For
the last test, the mean mark was 68 and with a standard deviation of 6. What mark is
required to receive an A on the test, rounded to the nearest tenth?

6. A manufacturer of plasma televisions has determined that the televisions require

servicing after a mean of 67 months, with a standard deviation of 7.2 months. What
length of warranty should be offered, to the nearest month, if the manufacturer wants to
repair less than 1% of the televisions under the warranty?

Additional Questions: Pg. 292 #5-7(ac), 8, 9, 11, 13

5.6 – Confidence Intervals

The data collected from surveys is just a sample of what a larger population’s results would be
like. Because the data collected is representative of a larger population’s results, we need to
consider the margin of error, confidence interval and confidence level.

Definitions
• Margin of Error: is the difference between the data collected from the smaller sample
size and the true value for the larger population. The margin of error is expressed as a
plus or minus percent (ex. 5% )

• Confidence Interval: is the interval where the true value is estimated to be (ex.
53%  4% means that the data ranges from 49% to 57%).

• Confidence level is the probability that the true value lies within the range of the
confidence interval (ex. it can be said with 95% confidence that the data lies between 18
and 24).

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 25

Example 1
A telephone survey of 600 randomly selected people was conducted. The survey determined that
76% of people from the ages of 18 and 34 have a social networking account. The results are
accurate within 4%, 19 out of 20 times.
• What is the margin of error?

• What is the confidence interval?

• What is the confidence level?

• How can these results be interpreted if the total population of 18 to 34 years olds is
92500?

Example 2
Polling organizations frequently survey samples of the population to estimate their preference
before an election. Below is a table of 3 different polls taken before an election:

• How does the sample size affect the margin of error?

• How do you think the sample size affects the confidence interval?

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 26

Example 3
A manufacturing company has set its equipment to create
baseballs that have a mean mass of 145.0 g. If the mean mass of a
random sample size is 144.7 g to 145.3 g, then the equipment is
running correctly. The quality control engineer refers to the chart
shown when conducting random sampling.
• What is the confidence interval and margin of error being used?

• Interpret the data given in the table. What does it mean?

Example 4

How does the sample size used in the poll affect:

• The margin of error in the reported results?

• The confidence interval in the reported results for the Conservative candidates?

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 27

Assignment – Confidence Intervals

1. A poll determined that 81% of people who live in Canada watch the NHL at least once a
year. The results of the survey are considered accurate within ±3.1 percent points, 19
times out of 20.
a) State the confidence level.

b) Determine the confidence interval.

c) The population of Canada was 33.5 million at the time of the survey. State the
range of the number of people who watch the NHL in Canada, to the nearest tenth
of a

2. As sample size increases, the margin of error, expressed as a percent, decreases. Consider
the table below. What mathematical relationship exists between increased sample size
and the margin of error?

Additional Problems: Pg. 302 #2, 3, 5

Mathematics 20-2 Chapter 5 – Statistical Reasoning 28