Calculating Descriptive Statistics

1. The following data represents the number of Sony TVs sold per day at a particular Costco over
a random sample of five business days.

9 2 7 7 5

The mean of this sample is 6.

(9+2+7+7+5)/ 5 =30/5 = 6

2. The following data represents the ages of a household that consists of five people.

39 37 12 7 7

Assuming this household represents a population, the mean of this data set is 20.4.
(39+37+12+7+7)/5 = 102/5 = 20.4

3. The following table shows a frequency distribution of the number of MacBook Air laptops
sold per day at a particular Best Buy.

Number of Laptops Frequency

0 2
1 5
2 3
3 8
4 5
5 2

What is the mean number of MacBook Air laptops sold per day?

(0 ×2)+(1 ×5)+(2 ×3)+(3 ×8)+(4 ×5)+(5 ×2)

Mean = (2+5+3+8+5+2)
0+5+6+24+20+10
= 25
65
= 25
= 2.6

3-1
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3-2 Chapter 3

4. There are five rows of students seated in a statistics class. The following table shows the
number of students in each row and the average score of the most recent exam for that row.

Row Number of Students Row Average

1 6 82.3
2 7 91.4
3 4 85.0
4 5 78.3
5 6 89.1

What is the average exam score for this class?

(6 ×82.3)+(7 ×91.4)+(4 ×85)+(5×78.3)+(6 ×89.1)
Average exam score = (6+7+4+5+6)
493.8 + 639.8 + 340 +391.5 + 534.6
= 28
2399.7
= 28
= 85.70

5. The following data represents the number of Sony TVs sold per day at a particular Costco over
a random sample of five business days.

9 2 7 7 5

The median of this sample is 7.

2 5 7 7 9
n=5
i = 0.5 (n) = 0.5(5) = 2.5 ≈3

6. The following data represents the ages of a household that consists of five people.

39 37 12 7 7

The median of this data set is 12.

7 7 12 37 39
n=5
i = 0.5 (n) = 0.5(5) = 2.5 ≈3

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Calculating Descriptive Statistics 3-3

7. The following data represents the number of home runs that Ryan Howard, a Major League
Baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies, hit over a six-year period.

22 58 47 48 45 31

The median for this data set is 46.

22 31 45 47 48 58
n=6
i = 0.5(n) = 0.5(6) = 3
(45+47)
Median = 2
= 46

8. The daily high temperature in Philadelphia over an eight-day period is shown below.

69 77 70 81 84 86 69 70

The median for this data set is 73.5.

69 69 70 70 77 81 84 86
n=8
I = 0.5(n) = 0.5(8) = 4
(70+77)
Median =
2
= 73.5

9. The following data represents the number of Sony TVs sold per day at a particular Costco over
a random sample of five business days.

9 2 7 7 5

The mode of this sample is 7.

10. The following data represents the ages of a household that consists of five people.

39 37 12 7 7

The mode of this data set is 7.

11. The following data represents the number of home runs that Ryan Howard, a Major League
Baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies, hit over a six-year period.

22 58 47 48 45 31

The mode for this data set is ________.

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3-4 Chapter 3

There is no mode for this data set.

12. The daily high temperature in Philadelphia over an eight-day period is shown below.

69 77 70 81 84 86 69 70

The mode for this data set is 70.

13. The following data represents the number of Sony TVs sold per day at a particular Costco
over a random sample of five business days.

9 2 7 7 5

The range of this sample is 7.

Range = Highest value – Lowest Value
Range = 9 – 2
Range = 7

14. The following data represents the ages of a household that consists of five people.

39 37 12 7 7

The range of this data set is ________.

Range = Highest value – Lowest Value
Range = 39 - 7
Range = 32

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Calculating Descriptive Statistics 3-5

15. The following data represents the number of Sony TVs sold per day at a particular Costco
over a random sample of five business days.

9 2 7 7 5

The variance of this sample is 7.

(9 + 2+7+7+5)
𝑥̅ = 5
30
𝑥̅ = 5
𝑥̅ =6

n=5
(9−6)2 + (2−6)2 +(7−6)2 +(7−6)2 +(5−6)2
s2 = (5−1)
2 (3)2 + (−4)2 +(1)2 +(1)2 +(−1)2
s =
4
9+ 16+ 1 + 1 + 1
s2 = 4
28
s2 = 4
s2 = 7

16. The following data set represents the age of a random sample of cars on the road today.

1 3 3 7 10 12

The variance of this sample is ________.

(1 + 3+ 3 +7 +10+12)
𝑥̅ = 6
36
𝑥̅ = 6
𝑥̅ =6

n=6
(1−6)2 + (3−6)2 +(3−6)2 +(7−6)2 +(10−6)2 +(12−6)2
s2 =
(6−1)
2 (−5)2 + (−3)2 +(−3)2 +(1)2 +(4)2 +(6)2
s = 5
25 + 9 + 9 + 1 + 16 + 36
s2 = 5
96
s2 = 5
s2 = 19.2

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3-6 Chapter 3

17. The following data represents the ages of a household that consists of five people. Assume
that the household is considered a population in this example.

39 37 12 7 7

The variance of this data set is ________.

(39 + 37+ 12 +7 +7)
𝑥̅ = 5
102
𝑥̅ = 5
𝑥̅ = 20.4

n=5
(39−20.4)2 + (37−20.4)2 +(12−20.4)2 +(7−20.4)2 +(7−20.4)2
𝜎2 = 5
2 (18.6)2 + (16.6)2 +(−8.4)2 +(−13.4)2 +(−13.4)2
𝜎 = 5
2 345.96 + 275.56 + 70.56 + 179.56 + 179.56
𝜎 = 5
1051.2
𝜎2 = 5
𝜎2= 210.24

18. The following data set represents the age of a random sample of cars on the road today.

1 3 3 7 10 12

The standard deviation of this sample is ________.

(1 + 3+ 3 +7 +10+12)
𝑥̅ = 6
36
𝑥̅ = 6
𝑥̅ =6

n=6
(1−6)2 + (3−6)2 +(3−6)2 +(7−6)2 +(10−6)2 +(12−6)2
s =√
(6−1)
(−5)2 + (−3)2 +(−3)2 +(1)2 +(4)2 +(6)2
s=√ 5
25 + 9 + 9 + 1 + 16 + 36
s=√ 5
96
s = √( 5 )
s = √19.2
s = 4.382

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Calculating Descriptive Statistics 3-7

19. The following data represents the number of Sony TVs sold per day at a particular Costco
over a random sample of five business days.

9 2 7 7 5

The standard deviation of this sample is ________.

(9 + 2+7+7+5)
𝑥̅ = 5
30
𝑥̅ = 5
𝑥̅ =6

n=5
(9−6)2 + (2−6)2 +(7−6)2 +(7−6)2 +(5−6)2
s=√ (5−1)

(3)2 + (−4)2 +(1)2 +(1)2 +(−1)2

s=√ 4
9+ 16+ 1 + 1 + 1
s=√ 4
28
s = √( 4 )
s = √7
s = 2.646

20. The following data represents the ages of a household that consists of five people. Assume
that the household is considered a population in this example.

39 37 12 7 7

The standard deviation of this data set is ________.

(39 + 37+ 12 +7 +7)
𝑥̅ = 5
102
𝑥̅ = 5
𝑥̅ = 20.4

n=5
(39−20.4)2 + (37−20.4)2 +(12−20.4)2 +(7−20.4)2 +(7−20.4)2
𝜎=√ 5
(18.6)2 + (16.6)2 +(−8.4)2 +(−13.4)2 +(−13.4)2
𝜎=√ 5
345.96 + 275.56 + 70.56 + 179.56 + 179.56
𝜎=√ 5
1051.2
𝜎 = √( )
5
𝜎 = √210.24
𝜎 = 14.5
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3-8 Chapter 3

21. The following data represents the number of days that 10 homes were on the market before
being sold.

47 95 113 116 57 72 51 12 109 20

The 70th percentile of this data set is 95.

12 20 47 51 57 72 95 109 113 116
n = 10
𝑝
i = 100(n)
70
i = 100 (10)
i=7

22. The MCAT is the admission exam that medical schools use as one of the criteria for
accepting students. The exam is based on a scale of 0-45. The following data shows the MCAT
scores for nine students.

32 36 29 31 30 35 34 26 30

The 35th percentile of this data set is 30.

26 29 30 30 31 32 34 35 36
n=9
𝑝
i= (𝑛)
100
35
i = 100(9)
i = 3.15

23. The following data represents the actual talk time, in hours, for the Samsung smartphone for
11 users.

25.1 19.1 21.6 9.5 20.3 18.0 24.6 25.2 21.9 29.7 28.5

The 60th percentile of this data set is 24.6.

9.5 18.0 19.1 20.3 21.6 21.9 24.6 25.1 25.2 28.5 29.7
n = 11
𝑝
i= (𝑛)
100
60
i = 100(11)
i = 6.6
i≈7

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Calculating Descriptive Statistics 3-9

24. The following data represent the wait time, in minutes, for customers calling Comcast
technical support.

14 2 13 7 24 19 12 16 6 9 13

The interquartile range is

2 6 7 9 12 13 13 14 16 19 24
n =11
25 75
Q1 = (𝑛) Q3 = 100 (𝑛)
100
25 75
Q1 = (11) Q3 = (11)
100 100
Q1 = 2.75 Q3 = 8.25
Q1 ≈ 3 Q3 ≈ 8
Q1 = 7 Q3 = 14

Interquartile range = Q3 – Q1
= 14 – 7
=7

25 The following data shows the number of home runs hit by the top 12 home run hitters during
a recent Major League Baseball season.

43 41 39 39 38 37 37 36 34 33 33 32

The interquartile range is ________.

32 33 33 34 36 37 37 38 39 39 41 43
n =12
25 75
Q1 = (𝑛) Q3 = 100 (𝑛)
100
25 75
Q1 = 100 (12) Q3 = 100 (12)
Q1 = 3 Q3 = 9
Q1 = 33 Q3 = 39

Interquartile range = Q3 – Q1
= 39 – 33
=6

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3-10 Chapter 3

26. The following table shows the number of absent students over the last 25 classes for a
particular course.

Number of Absent Students Frequency

0 9
1 3
2 4
3 5
4 3
5 1

Calculate the mean number of absent students per class.

(0 ×9)+(1 ×3)+(2 ×4)+(3 ×5)+(4 ×3)+(5 ×1)
Mean = (9+3+4+5+3+1)
0+3+8+15+12+5
= 25
43
= 25
= 1.72

27. The following table shows the models of vehicles at the Sheridan Nissan dealership along
with number of vehicles currently in inventory and their corresponding rated miles per gallon
(city).

Model Miles per Gallon (City) Number of Vehicles

Versa 30 12
Sentra 27 7
Altima 23 10
Maxima 19 5
Pathfinder 15 6

Calculate the mean miles per gallon (city) of the vehicles in inventory.
(30 ×12)+(27 ×7)+(23 ×10)+(19 ×5)+(15 ×6)
Mean = (12+7+10+5+6)
360+189+230+95+90
= 40
964
= 40
= 24.1

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Calculating Descriptive Statistics 3-11

28. The following data represent a sample of games won per season by the San Francisco 49ers
of the National Football League over an eight-year period.

13 6 8 7 5 7 4 2

Calculate the median of this sample.

2 4 5 6 7 7 8 13
n=8
i = 0.5(n) = 0.5(8) = 4
(6+7)
Median = 2
= 6.5

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