Math 170:  Topic 09

Descriptive statistics (mean, median, mode, quartiles, percentiles, range, variance, standard deviation, linear regression)

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Recognize and appropriately apply basic descriptive statistics. [Please note that it is required that computational work be done by hand. Calculators, computers, tablets, phones, are not allowed. As such, the computational work must be kept to a minimum.]

  1. Correctly compute and/or identify the mean, median, and mode of a set of data. For example, given the data L1={3,4,4,3,2,5,2,3,5,6,3,6,8,3,2,2,3} find the mean, median, and mode.
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  2. Correctly compute the quartile points, Q0, Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4, for the data L1={3,4,4,3,2,5,2,3,5,6,3,6,8,3,2,2,3}.
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  3. Correctly compute the percentile point of a given value given within a data list. For example, what is the percentile point associated with 5 in the data L1={3,4,4,3,7,5,9,3,5,6,3,6,8,3,2,9,3}?
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  4. Correctly identify from a list of five possibilities the only reasonable value for the standard deviation for a given population. For example, given the data {3,4,6,8,2,1,4,6,3} which of the following is the most reasonable value for the standard deviation of that population: A) 4.231 B) 7.000 C) 0.234 D) 2.078 E) 5.324.
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  5. Correctly apply a linear regression equation to produce a set of expected values. For example, if a given set of data yields the regression equation y = 1.94x + 13.45 what is the expected value for independent variable values 40, 50, and 60?
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©Roger M. Palay
Saline, MI 48176
August, 2013