AP Statistics : Data

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Statistics

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Example Questions

Example Question #3 : How To Find The Interquartile Range For A Set Of Data

Find the Interquartile Range (IQR) for the following data.

Q1 = 2, Q3 = 6

IQR = Q3 - Q1 = 4

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The Interquartile Range equation is Q3-Q1

First, make sure the data is in ascending order. Then split the data up so that it each quartile has 25% of the data, or think of it as splitting the data into 4 equal parts.

  • is the "middle" value in the first half of the rank-ordered data set.
  •  is the median value in the overall set.
  • is the "middle" value in the second half of the rank-ordered data set.

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Standard Deviation For A Set Of Data

A bird watcher observed how many birds came to her bird feeder for four days.  These were the results:

Day 1: 15

Day 2: 12

Day 3: 10

Day 4: 13

Which answer is closest to the standard deviation of the number of birds to visit the bird feeder over the four days?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Standard deviation is essentially the average distance from the mean of a group of numbers.  There are a number of steps in computing standard deviation, but the steps are not too complicated if you take them one at a time.  First, find the mean of the values.  Second, subtract the mean from the first value and square the result.  Do this for all remaining values.  Third, add these results together.  Fourth, divide this value by the number of values.  Finally, find the square root of the result. 

1:

2:

3:

4: 

5: 

Example Question #1 : Understanding Standard Deviation

Alice recorded the outside temperature at noon each day for one week. These were the results.

Monday: 78

Tuesday: 85

Wednesday: 82

Thursday: 84

Friday: 82

Saturday: 79

Sunday: 80

What is the standard deviation of the temperatures?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

There are five steps to finding the standard deviation of a group of values. First, find the mean of the values.  Second, subtract the mean from the first value and square the result.  Do this for all remaining values.  Third, add these results together.  Fourth, divide this value by the number of values minus one.  Finally, find the square root of the result. 

 

Example Question #21 : Univariate Data Descriptors

A bird watcher observed how many birds came to her bird feeder for four days.  These were the results:

Day 1: 15

Day 2: 12

Day 3: 10

Day 4: 13

What is the variance of the number of birds that visited the bird feeder over the four days?

 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Variation measures the average difference between values within a group.  The process is not complicated but there are four steps that can take time.  First, find the mean of the values.  Second, subtract the mean from the first value and square the result.  Do this for all remaining values.  Third, add these results together.  Fourth, divide this value by the number of values in the group minus one (in this case, there are four days). 

1:

2:

3:

4:

Note that to find the standard deviation, we would simply take one additional step of finding the square root of the variance. 

Example Question #2 : How To Find The Standard Deviation For A Set Of Data

Alice recorded the outside temperature at noon each day for one week. These were the results.

Monday: 78

Tuesday: 85

Wednesday: 82

Thursday: 84

Friday: 82

Saturday: 79

Sunday: 80

What is the variance of the temperatures?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

There are four steps to finding the variance of values within a group.  First, find the mean of the values.  Second, subtract the mean from the first value and square the result.  Do this for all remaining values.  Third, add these results together.  Fourth, divide the result  by the number of values in the group minus one (in this case, there are seven days, so you must divide by six).  

Example Question #3 : How To Find The Standard Deviation For A Set Of Data

The average height of  females in a class is  inches, with a standard deviation of  inches. In the same class, the average height of  boys is  inches, with a standard deviation of  inches. What is the mean height of both males and females?

 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the mean of the whole population, multiply the female's average by the number of females, and then multiply the male's average by the number of males. Sum up these products and divide by the total number of males AND females:

 

 

Example Question #2 : Statistical Concepts

The standard deviation of a population is 7.5.  What is the variance of the population?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This question illustrates the close relationship between the concepts of variance and standard deviation.  We can find variance even though we do not know the values in the population if we know the standard deviation.  Simply square the standard deviation to find the variance. 

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Quartiles For A Set Of Data

Obtain a normal distribution table or calculator for this problem.

Approximate the -percentile on the standard normal distribution.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The -percentile is the value such that  percent of values are less than it.

Using a normal table or calculator (such as R, using the command qnorm(0.9)), we get that the approximate -percentile is about .

Example Question #2 : How To Find The Quartiles For A Set Of Data

Find the first and third quartile for the set of data

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

In order to find the first and third quartiles, we haave to find the 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively.

To find the  percentile, we find the product of  and the number of items  in the set.

We then round that number  up if it is not a whole number, and the  term in the set is the  percentile.

For this problem, to find the  and  percentile, we first find that there are 14 items in the set. We find their respective products to be

    and 

As such, the  and  percentiles are the fourth and eleventh terms in the set, or 

Example Question #1 : Statistical Concepts

The 70th and 80th percentiles of a set of scores are 78 and 86, respectively; the interquartile range of the scores is 41. Which of these scores is more likely than the others to be at the 25th percentile?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The interquartile range of a set of scores is the difference between the third and first quartile - that is, the difference between the 75th and 25th percentiles. The 75th percentile is between 78 and 86, so, if 41 is subtracted from those numbers, the upper and lower bounds of the 25th percentile can be found.

Of our choices, only 40 falls in this range.

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