STATISTICS (Chapter 9) _ 198 [MUN DIseRere numericat pata A variable is a quantity that can have a value recorded for it or to which we can assign an attribute or quality, Data is made up of individual observations of a variable. ‘The variables that we commonly deal with are: © categorical variables which come in types or categories © quantitative or numerical variables which could be discrete or continuous. In previous courses we have examined how to collect, organise, graph and analyse categorical data. In this section we consider only discrete numerical data. DISCRETE NUMERICAL DATA A discrete numerical variable can only take distinct values which we find by counting. We record it as a number Examples of discrete numerical variables are: The number of children in a family: the variable can take the values 0,1, 2,3, The score for a test, out of 30 marks: the variable can take the values 0,1, 2, By sions 29, 30. ORGANISING DISCRETE NUMERICAL DATA Discrete numerical data can be organised: © ina tally and frequency table © using a dot plot © using a stem-and-leaf plot or stemplot. Stemplots are used when there are many possible data values. The stemplot is a form of grouping of the data which displays frequencies but retains the actual data values. xamples: © frequency table © dot plot © stemplot Number] Tally Fr Stem | Leaf ofs a tl > yz 4 | HH ill 9 2/836764 5 YAK HE III] 13 3193556821 6 [it 5 479342 7 I il 5it ‘As data is collected, it can be entered directly into a carefully prepared dot plot or stemplot.196 STATISTICS (Chapter 9) Coe The score for a test out of 50 25, 36, 38, 49, 23, 46, 47, 15, 28, 38, 34, 9, 30, was recorded for 36 students. 24, 27, 27, 42, 16, 28, 31, 24, 46, 25, 31, 37, 35, 32, 39, 43, 40, 50, 47, 29, 36, 35, 33 2 Organise the data using a stem-and-leaf plot. What percentage of students scored 40 or more marks? The stems will be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 to account for numbers from 0 to 50. 2 Unordered stemplot Ordered stemplot Stem | Leaf Stem | Leaf o}9 ol 1/56 1/56 2|5384778459 2| 3445577889 3]68840117529653 3]01123455667889 4/96726307 4/02366779 5|0 Scale: 2| 4 is 24marks 5 | 0 b 9 students scored 40 or more marks, and 5 x 100% = 25%. Notice in the ordered stemplot in Example 1 that: all of the actual data values are shown the minimum or smallest data value is easy to find (9 in this ease) the maximum or largest data value is easy to find (50 in this case) the range of values that occurs most often is easy to see (30 - 39 in this case) the shape of the distribution of the data is easy to see. DESCRIBING THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE DATA SET Many data sets show symmetry or partial s mmetry about the mean, If we place a curve over the column graph alongside we see that this curve shows symmetry. We have a symmetrical distribution of the data. 7 This distribution is said to be negatively skewed since, if we compare it with the symmetrical distribution above, it has been ‘stretched’ on the left or negative side of the mode. So, we have: negative side ig stretched positive side ig stretched ‘symmetrical negatively skewed positively skewedSTATISTICS (Chapter 9) __ 197 OUTLIERS Outliers are data values that are either much larger or much smaller than the general body of data, Outliers appear separated from the body of data on a frequency graph. For example, suppose we are examining the number of peas ina pod. We find ina sample 50 one pod which contains 13 peas. It is much 40 larger than the other data in the sample, and 30 appears separated on the column graph. We 70 10 consider the value 13 to be an outlier. ° ‘Frequency outlier 123456789021 EXERCISE 9A number of peas in a pod 1. Classify the following data as categorical, discrete numerical, or continuous numerical: a the number of pages in a daily newspaper the maximum daily temperature in the city the manufacturer of a car the preferred football code the position taken by a player on a hockey field the time it takes 15-year-olds to run one kilometre the length of feet the number of goals shot by a netballer Fane ane i the amount spent weekly at the supermarket. 2 A sample of lamp posts were surveyed for the following data. Classify the data as categorical, discrete numerical, or continuous numerical: a the diameter of the lamp post in centimetres, measured 1 metre from its base © the material from which the lamp post is made the location of the lamp post (inner, outer, North, South, East, or West) the height of the lamp post in metres the time in months since the last inspection the number of inspections since installation the condition of the lamp post (very good, good, fair, or unsatisfactory). wae en 3 Construct a vertical column graph for the [Number of tablets in a box | Frequency given data. ay mi b Classify the given data set. 30 Classify the shape of the distribution 31 PACKAGE. aa 34 7 stanistics 32 3 0 1198 _ STATISTICS (Chapter 9) 4 @ Construct vertical column graph for [Number of toothpicks in a box | Frequency] the given data: aa b Classify the given data set. 34 - € Classify the shape of the distribution, 35 7 STATISTICS 36 13 PACKAGE 37. 12 38. 8 39. 2 5 An ice hockey player has recorded the number of goals he has scored in each of his last 30 matches: 1132004224310 2151372224311 a Construct a dot plot for the raw data. b Comment on the distribution of the data, noting any outliers. 6 The following marks were scored for a test out of 50 marks: AT 32 32 29 36 39 40 46 43 39 44 18 38 45 35 46 7 44 27 48 ‘a Construct an ordered stemplot for the data. bb What percentage of the students scored 40 or more marks? What percentage of the students scored less than 30 marks? Ifa score of 25 or more is a pass, what percentage of the students passed? © Describe the distribution of the data, 7 The number of peanuts in a jar varies slightly from jar to jar. A manufacturer has taken a sample of sixty jars of peanuts and recorded the number of peanuts in each: 901 904 913 924 921 893 894 895 878 885 896 910 901 903 907 907 904 892 888 905 907 901 915 901 909 917 889 891 894 894 898 895 904 908 913 924 927 885 898 903 903 913 916 931 882 893 894 903 900 906 910 928 901 896 886 897 899 908 904 889 Complete an ordered stemplot for the data, The ‘stems’ are to be split to give a better display of the distribution of numbers. Use the stem 87 for numbers from 870 to 874, 87* for numbers from 875 to 879, and so on. b What percentage of the jars had 900 peanuts or more? What percentage of the jars had less than 890 peanuts? d_ Describe the distribution of the data. @ The manufacturer would like at least 95% of his jars to have within 20 peanuts of the stated number which is 900. Is this the case for this sample?