WIUT Quantitative Methods 3BUSS001C

Academic Year 2023-2024

Seminar 2. Measures of location

Question1. A quality-control inspector at an electronic device manufacturing company has recorded the
following number (in hundreds) of daily defective parts in a production plant during the past twenty-four
days.

13 12 15 16 14 14 13 12 19 14 16 13

12 14 13 13 16 12 12 13 12 15 12 15

1a. Calculate the mean, median, mode, minimum, maximum, lower quartile, and upper quartile
for this data.
1b. Which measure of location is a good indicator for the average number of defects in any
given day?
Answer:
1a. There are 24 observations in this dataset. Adding them all up gives 330. We then divide by 24 to find
the mean: 13.75

The median ( n+12 ) is the 12.5 observation. After arranging the numbers in ascending order, we find
th

the 12th and 13th observation: 13 and 13. Averaging them yields the median: 13.
The mode is the most frequent observation: 12. (for frequencies of all observations, refer to Q2)
The minimum is 12. The maximum is 19.
1
Lower quartile (n+1) is the 6.25th observation: 12.
4
3
Upper quartile (n+1) is the 18.75th observation: 15.
4
Note: there is no consensus in finding the lower and upper quartile. In the indicated answer above, the
rounding method is used; the lower quartile is the 6.25th observation, rounding to the nearest number
makes it the 6th number: 12. Similarly, the upper quartile is the 19th observation: 15.
Another method is to split the data into 2 groups: low values and high values. Then apply the median
formula separately. The median of the low value group (lower quartile) is the 6.5th observation. The 6th and
7th observation are both 12. The median of the high value group (upper quartile) is also the 6.5th observation
(of the high value group). The 6th and 7th observation are both 15.
There are other methods as well but all give very similar results. In this example, both methods give the
same result.
1b. The mode does not seem to be a good indicator for the average number of defects, as it is also the
lowest observation: 12. Median and mean are better indicators of the average in this situation. Median
is not sensitive to extreme values at the tail ends of the observations. It is also the center-most
observation: 13. Mean is the arithmetic averaging of all observations but it is sensitive to outliers in the
dataset. It is a bit higher than the median in this case, since the data has 1 outlier in the positive tail: 19.
WIUT Quantitative Methods 3BUSS001C
Academic Year 2023-2024
(note: discuss with the students the differences between the 3 measures of location and which measure
is a good indicator under which type of circumstance)

Note: You can use the Descriptive Statistics facility in EXCEL to obtain the mode, median and mean of a
set of data. Enter the data into a column of the spreadsheet then

■ Select Data Analysis from the Tools menu and choose Descriptive Statistics from the menu in the Data
Analysis command window.

■ In the Descriptive Statistics command window specify the cell locations of your data in the box
alongside Input Range and tick Summary statistics in the lower part of the window. The default output
setting, New Worksheet Ply will place your output in a new worksheet.

To obtain quartiles click on an empty cell of the worksheet then click in the formula bar to the right of fx
(or =in some versions) in the upper part of the screen. To get the first quartile of a set of data stored in
cells A1 to A12 of the spreadsheet type = QUARTILE(A1:A12,1) in the formula bar and press Enter. The
first quartile should appear in the empty cell you clicked before clicking the formula bar. To get the third
quartile type = QUARTILE(A1:A12,3) in the formula bar and press Enter.

Question 2. Tabulate the data in the question above. Calculate the mean, median, and mode
again.
Answer:
Number of
Frequency
defective parts

12 7

13 6

14 4

15 3

16 3

19 1

Calculate the mean, median, and mode again.

Number of Defective Cumulative
Frequency
defective parts parts X frequency frequency

12 7 84 7

13 6 78 13
WIUT Quantitative Methods 3BUSS001C
Academic Year 2023-2024
14 4 56 17

15 3 45 20

16 3 48 23

19 1 19 24

Total 24 330

Mean, median, and mode do not change from previous question.

(note: ask students to use the tabulated data formula to solve this question)

Question3. Ashgabat Amusement Park in Tashkent has collected the following data on the number of
visitors (in millions) per week in 2020.

Number of people visited 1 2 3 4 5 6

Number of weeks 2 15 18 10 4 3

Calculate the mean, median, and mode of the number of visitors per week that the park had.

Answer:

Number of people Number of Observation X

Cumulative
visited weeks Frequency
frequency
(observation) (frequency)

1 2 2 2

2 15 30 17

3 18 54 35

4 10 40 45

5 4 20 49

6 3 18 52

Total 52 164

The mean is 3.15. ( 164

52 )
WIUT Quantitative Methods 3BUSS001C
Academic Year 2023-2024
The median is 3.(52+1
2 )
=26.5 th

The mode is 3. (most frequent observation: 18)

Question 4. In the given table, State Services Agency announces most popular names for newborns
in Uzbekistan in the first quarter of 2021.

Popular Number of
names for newborns
newborns
Muhammadali 5236
Soliha 5114
Muhammad 2997
Muslima 2969
Abdulloh 2711
Shukrona 2252

Can you find the mean, median, and mode of this data? Why or why not?

Answer:

The type of the gathered data is nominal. Hence, only mode can be estimated (Muhammadali is the
most popular boy name given for newborns in January – March of 2021).

Since nominal data cannot be ordered in any meaningful way, the median cannot be computed. Since
nominal data cannot be added or subtracted from each other in any meaningful way, the mean cannot
be estimated. (Note: this question is a quick refresher of last week’s topic: Data.)

Question5. A survey of amateur basketball players asking them for their preferred jersey number
was conducted. The results are shown in the table below.

Jersey number 6 13 21 23 24 41 33 50

Number of respondents 5 7 4 8 13 9 10 6

Can you find the mean, median, and mode of this data? Why or why not?

Answer:

The type of the gathered data is nominal. Hence, only mode can be estimated (Jersey number24 is the
most popular number among basketball amateurs.
WIUT Quantitative Methods 3BUSS001C
Academic Year 2023-2024
Since nominal data cannot be ordered in any meaningful way, the median cannot be computed. Since
nominal data cannot be added or subtracted from each other in any meaningful way, the mean cannot
be estimated. (Note: this question is a quick refresher of last week’s topic: Data.)

Question 6. On a timed QM final exam in the academic year 2020-2021, the first quartile
(Q¿¿ 1)¿ for time it took to finish the exam was 45 minutes. Interpret the first quartile
(Q¿¿ 1)¿ in the context of this situation.

Answer:

 Twenty-five percent of students finished the exam in 45 minutes or less.

 Seventy-five percent of students accomplished the exam in 45 minutes or more.
 A low percentile could be considered good, as finishing more quickly on a timed exam
is desirable. (If you take too long, you might not be able to finish.)

Question 7. In a survey collecting data about the salaries earned by recent University
graduates, Ezoza found that her salary was in the 75th percentile. Should Ezoza be pleased or
upset by this outcome? Explain.

Answer:

Ezoza has to be pleased, because her salary is relatively high compared to other recent
University graduates. 75% of recent graduates earn less than Ezoza does, while 25% of her
counterparts earn more than she receives.

Question 8. A construction company has 16 employees operate in the main office. The
following are their salaries

2400 3900 2700 2700

2000 5200 2300 3200

1800 4400 3100 2500

2000 4500 2000 1400

a) Tabulate the data and compute the mean, median, and mode of the employees’ salaries.

b) Which one does not give a good indication of their average salary?

Answer:

a)
Range Number of salaries in
 WIUT Quantitative Methods 3BUSS001C
Academic Year 2023-2024
this range (frequency)

1000 ≤ x < 2000 2

2000 ≤ x < 3000 8

3000 ≤ x < 4000 3

4000 ≤ x < 5000 2

5000 ≤ x < 6000 1

Tabulation of this data requires some generalization. One way is to group the data by the thousands.
Other grouping criteria is also acceptable but only thousands is shown here.

Number of salaries in Midpoint X Cumulative

Range Midpoint
this range (frequency) Frequency Frequency

1000 ≤ x < 2000 2 1500 3000 2

2000 ≤ x < 3000 8 2500 20000 10

3000 ≤ x < 4000 3 3500 10500 13

4000 ≤ x < 5000 2 4500 9000 15

5000 ≤ x < 6000 1 5500 5500 16

Total 16 48,000

Mean =
∑ f x x = 48000 =3000
∑ f x 16
n
n+1 17 −F 8−2
Middle value= = =8.5 th value Median = l+w* 2 2000 + 1000* =
2 2 =¿ 8
f
2000+750=2750

w∗f m−f m−1 1000∗8−2

Mode = l+ =2000+ =2000+545.45=2545.45
2 f m−f m−1−f m=1 2∗8−2−3

Note: Median group is identified based on (n+1)/2th value on the cumulative frequency, while
modal group is detected based on the most frequent value. In this case, median group and modal
group are the same. It does not mean that they will always be same.
WIUT Quantitative Methods 3BUSS001C
Academic Year 2023-2024
Question 9. Fifty CIFS students were asked how much sleep they get per school night (rounded
to nearest hour). The results were:

AMOUNT OF SLEEP PER Number of

SCHOOL NIGHT (HOURS) students
2≤x<4 4
4≤x<6 5
6≤x<8 7
8 ≤ x < 10 13
10 ≤ x < 12 14
12 ≤ x < 14 7
Total 50

Calculate the mean, median, mode, upper quartile and lower quartile of sleeping hours that CIFS
students get per school night.

Answer:

Range Frequency MidpointX Cumulative

Midpoint frequency Frequency
2≤x<4 4 3 12 4
4≤x<6 5 5 25 9
6≤x<8 7 7 49 16
8 ≤ x < 10 13 9 117 29
10 ≤ x < 12 14 11 154 43
12 ≤ x < 14 7 13 91 50
Total 50 448

a) Mean =
∑ f x x = 448 =8.96 hours per school night
∑ f x 50
n
n+1 51 −F 25−16
b) Middle value= = =25.5 th value Median = l+w* 2 8+ 2* =
2 2 =¿ 13
f
8+1.38=9.38
WIUT Quantitative Methods 3BUSS001C
Academic Year 2023-2024
w∗f m−f m−1 2∗14−13
c) Mode = l+ =10+ =10+0.25=10.25 Most students take
2 f m−f m−1−f m=1 2∗14−13−7
10.25 hours per school night.
Modal group

n
−F
4 2∗12.5−9
d ¿ Lower Quartile=l+w =6+ =6+1=7
fm 7
Twenty-five percent of CIFS students have 7 sleeping hours or less per school night.

50
Q 1= =12.5 th value (Lower quartile group)
4
n
3 −F 37.5−29
4 = 10+2* =10 + 1.21=11.21
e ¿Upper Quartile=l+ w 14
fm

Twenty-five percent of CIFS students get 11.21 or more hours of sleep per school night.

3∗50
Q 3= =37.5 th value (upper quartile group)
4