MEASURES OF RELATIVE POSITION

GED 102 - MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

AIZELLE KEI D. CAMILON

 z-SCORES

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 z-Score
• The z-score for a given data value x is the number of
standard deviations that x is above or below the
mean of the data. The following formulas show how
to calculate the z-score for a data value x in a
population and in a sample.
𝑥−𝜇
• Population: 𝑧𝑥 =
𝜎

𝑥−𝑥ҧ
• Sample: 𝑧𝑥 =
𝑠
 Question !
What does a z-score of 3 for a data value x represent?
What does a z-score of – 1 for a data value x
represent?

In the next example, we use a student’s z-scores for two tests to

determine how well the student did on each test in comparison to other
students.
Example 1:
Raul has taken two tests in his chemistry class. He
scored 72 on the first test, for which the mean of all
scores was 65 and the standard deviation was 8. He
received a 60 on a second test, for which the mean of
all scores was 45 and the standard deviation was 12. in
comparison to the other students, did Raul do better
on the first test or the second test?
 Solution:
Find the z-scores for each test.
72 − 65 60 − 45
𝑧72 = = 0.875 𝑧60 = = 1.25
8 12

Raul scored 0.875 standard deviation above the mean on the first test and 1.25
standard deviation above the mean on the second test. These z-scores indicate
that, in comparison to his classmates, Raul scored better on the second test
than he did on the first test.

Answer:
A 𝑧 − 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 of 3 for a data value 𝑥 means that 𝑥 is 3 standard deviation above the mean.
A 𝑧 − 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 of – 1 for a data value 𝑥 means that 𝑥 is 1 standard deviation below the mean.
Example 2:
A consumer group tested a sample of 100 light bulbs. It found that the mean
life expectancy of the bulbs was 842 h, with a standard deviation of 90. One
particular light bulb from the DuraBright Company has a z-score of 1.2. What
was the life-span of this light-bulb?
Solution:
𝑥 − 𝑥ҧ
𝑧𝑥 =
𝑠

𝑥−842
1.2 = → 𝑧𝑥 = 1.2, 𝑥ҧ = 842, s = 90
90

108 = 𝑥 − 842 → Solve for 𝑥 .

950 = 𝑥

The light bulb has a life span of 950 h.

 PERCENTILES AND
QUARTILES

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PERCENTILE QUARTILE
𝑃10
𝑄1
𝑃20

𝑃30

𝑃40
𝑄2
𝑃50

𝑃60
𝑄3
𝑃70

𝑃80

𝑃90
𝑄4
𝑃100
 Percentiles
Assume that the elements in a data set are rank
ordered from the smallest to the largest. The values
that divide a rank-ordered set of elements into 100
equal parts are called percentiles.

An element having a percentile rank of 𝑃𝑖 would have

a greater value than 𝑖 percent of all the elements in
the set. Thus, the observation at the 50th percentile
would be denoted 𝑃50 , and it would be greater than
50 percent of the observations in the set.
Example 1 (Using Percentiles):
In a recent year, the median annual salary for a
physical therapist was $74,480. If the 90th percentile
for the annual salary of a physical therapist was
$105,900, find the percent of physical therapists
whose annual salary was:
a. More than $74,480.
b. Less than $105,900.
c. Between $74,480 and $105,900.
Solution:
a. By definition, the median is the 50𝑡ℎ percentile. Therefore
50% of the physical therapists earned more than
$74,480 per year.
b. Because $105,900 is the 90𝑡ℎ percentile, 90% of all the
physical therapists made less than $105,900.
c. From parts a and b, 90% − 50% = 40% of the
physical therapists earned between $74,480 and
$105,900.
Example 2:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th

2 4 5 5 6 7 7 9 10
Step 1: Put the numbers in order.
𝑘
Step 2: Solve using the formula → 𝑃𝑘 = (𝑛 + 1)
100
Question: Find the 50th percentile?
Solution:

50
𝑃50 = (9 + 1)
100

𝑃50 = 0.5(10)

𝑃50 = 5 (the 50th percentile score is the element number 5) → 6

Example 3:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th

2 4 5 5 6 7 7 9 10
Step 1: Put the numbers in order.
𝑘
Step 2: Solve using the formula → 𝑃𝑘 = 100 (𝑛 + 1)
Question: Find the 25th percentile?
Solution:

25
𝑃25 = (9 + 1)
100

𝑃25 = 0.25(10)

𝑃25 = 2.5 (the 25th percentile score is the element number 2.5, which is between element 2 and 3. Find the mean of element 2

and 3) → 4.5
Example 4:
5 5 6 10 15 15 16 17 18
19 22 25 26 27 29 30 32 33
Step 1: Put the numbers in order.
𝑘
Step 2: Solve using the formula → 𝑃𝑘 = (𝑛 + 1)
100
Question: Find the 25th percentile?
Solution:

52
𝑃52 = (18 + 1)
100

𝑃52 = 0.52(19)

𝑃52 = 9.88 → 18.5

 QUARTILES

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photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the author or lecturer.
 Quartiles
The three numbers 𝑄1 , 𝑄2 and 𝑄3 , that partition a
ranked data set into four (approximately) equal groups
are called the quartiles of the data. For instance, for
the data set below, the values 𝑄1 = 11, 𝑄2 = 29
and 𝑄3 = 104 are the quartiles of the data.

2, 5, 5, 8, 11, 12, 19, 22, 23, 29, 31, 45, 83, 91, 104, 159, 181, 312, 354

𝑄1 𝑄2 𝑄3

First Second Third

quartile quartile quartile
The Median Procedure for Finding Quartiles:
1. Rank the data.
2. Find the median of the data. This is the second quartile.
3. The first quartile is the median of the data values less than
the second quartile. The third quartile is the median of the
data values greater than the second quartile.

OR
Use the formula:

𝑘
𝑄𝑘 = (𝑛 + 1)
4
 Example:
The following tables lists the calories per 100 milliliters of 25
popular sodas. Find the quartiles for the data.

Calories per 100 milliliters of Selected Sodas

43 37 42 40 53 62 36 32 50 49
26 53 73 48 45 39 45 48 40 56
41 36 58 42 39
Solution 1:
Step 1: Rank the data shown in the following table:
26 32 36 36 37 39 39 40 40
41 42 42 43 45 45 48 48 49
50 53 53 56 58 62 73

Step 2: The median of these 25 data values has a rank of 13. Thus, the second
quartile is 43.

Step 3: There are 12 value less than and greater than the median. The first
quartile is the median of the 12 values less than the median, thus the first
quartile is 39. The third quartile is the median of the 12 values greater than the
median, thus the third quartile is 51.5.
Solution 2 (using the formula):
𝑘
𝑄𝑘 = (𝑛 + 1)
4
1
𝑄1 = 25 + 1 = 0.25 26 = 6.5𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 (the mean
4th
of the 6 and 7th element) → 39

2
𝑄2 = 25 + 1 = 0.5 26 = 13𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 → 43
4

3
𝑄3 = 25 + 1 = 0.75 26 = 19.5𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 (the
4
mean of the 19th and 20th element) → 51.5
 Box-and-Whisker Plots
A box-and-whisker plot (sometimes called a box
plot) is often used to provide a visual summary of a
set of data. A box-and-whisker plot shows the median,
first and third quartiles, and the minimum and
maximum values of a data set.
 Construction of a Box-and-Whisker Plot
1. Draw a horizontal scale that extends from the
minimum data value to the maximum data value.
2. Above the scale, draw a rectangle (box) with its left
side at 𝑄1 and its right side at 𝑄3 .
3. Draw a vertical line segment across the rectangle
at the median, 𝑄2 .
4. Draw a horizontal line segment, called a whisker,
that extends from 𝑄1 to the minimum and another
whisker that extends from 𝑄3 to the maximum.
Construction a box-and-whisker plot for the data set
in Slide 16.
Solution:
For the data set in slide 16, we determined that 𝑄1 =
39, 𝑄2 = 43, and 𝑄3 = 51.5. The minimum data
value for the data set is 26, and the maximum data
value is 73. Thus the box-and-whisker plot is as shown
below. 𝑄1 𝑄2 𝑄3
𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑥

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Calories per 100 milliliters of Selected Sodas
Box plots are popular because they are easy to
construct and they illustrate several important
features of a data set in a simple diagram. From the
box plot, we can easily estimate
▪ the quartiles of the data.
▪ the range of the data.
▪ the position of the middle half of the data as shown by
the length of the box.
 Note:

Quartile 1 (𝑄1 ) = 25th percentile

Quartile 2 (𝑄2 ) = 50th percentile = median

Quartile 3 (𝑄3 ) = 75th percentile

Try the following:
1. A data set has a mean of 𝑥ҧ = 75 and a standard
deviation 𝑠 = 11.5. Find the 𝑧 − 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 for
each of the following:
a. 𝑥 = 85
b. 𝑥 = 95
c. 𝑥 = 50
d. 𝑥 = 75
2. The line graph shows how the population of parrots on an
island declined over the ten year period from 2001 to 2010.
Measurements were taken at the beginning of each year.

For the period shown in the graph, estimate the time when the
population reached its seventy percentile.
3. A survey was given to 18 students. One question asked
about the one-way distance the students had to travel to
attend college. The results, in miles, are shown in the
following table. Draw a box-and-whisker plot for this data
set.
Miles Traveled to Attend College
12 18 4 5 26 41 1 8 10
10 3 28 32 10 85 7 5 15