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Cauchon, Dennis, Paul Overberg. “Census data shows minorities now a majority of U.S. births.” USA Today, 2012. Available online at http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-05-17/minority-birthscensus/55029100/1 (accessed April 3, 2013).
Data from the United States Department of Commerce: United States Census Bureau. Available online at http://www.census.gov/ (accessed April 3, 2013).
“1990 Census.” United States Department of Commerce: United States Census Bureau. Available online at http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen1990.html (accessed April 3, 2013).
Data from San Jose Mercury News .
Data from Time Magazine ; survey by Yankelovich Partners, Inc.
The values that divide a rank-ordered set of data into 100 equal parts are called percentiles. Percentiles are used to compare and interpret data. For example, an observation at the 50 th percentile would be greater than 50 percent of the other obeservations in the set. Quartiles divide data into quarters. The first quartile ( Q 1 ) is the 25 th percentile,the second quartile ( Q 2 or median) is 50 th percentile, and the third quartile ( Q 3 ) is the the 75 th percentile. The interquartile range, or IQR , is the range of the middle 50 percent of the data values. The IQR is found by subtracting Q 1 from Q 3 , and can help determine outliers by using the following two expressions.
where i = the ranking or position of a data value,
k = the kth percentile,
n = total number of data.
Expression for finding the percentile of a data value: (100)
where x = the number of values counting from the bottom of the data list up to but not including the data value for which you want to find the percentile,
y = the number of data values equal to the data value for which you want to find the percentile,
n = total number of data
Listed are 29 ages for Academy Award winning best actors in order from smallest to largest.
18; 21; 22; 25; 26; 27; 29; 30; 31; 33; 36; 37; 41; 42; 47; 52; 55; 57; 58; 62; 64; 67; 69; 71; 72; 73; 74; 76; 77
Listed are 32 ages for Academy Award winning best actors in order from smallest to largest.
18; 18; 21; 22; 25; 26; 27; 29; 30; 31; 31; 33; 36; 37; 37; 41; 42; 47; 52; 55; 57; 58; 62; 64; 67; 69; 71; 72; 73; 74; 76; 77
Jesse was ranked 37 th in his graduating class of 180 students. At what percentile is Jesse’s ranking?
Jesse graduated 37 th out of a class of 180 students. There are 180 – 37 = 143 students ranked below Jesse. There is one rank of 37.
x = 143 and y = 1. (100) = (100) = 79.72. Jesse’s rank of 37 puts him at the 80 th percentile.
On an exam, would it be more desirable to earn a grade with a high or low percentile? Explain.
Mina is waiting in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Her wait time of 32 minutes is the 85 th percentile of wait times. Is that good or bad? Write a sentence interpreting the 85 th percentile in the context of this situation.
When waiting in line at the DMV, the 85 th percentile would be a long wait time compared to the other people waiting. 85% of people had shorter wait times than Mina. In this context, Mina would prefer a wait time corresponding to a lower percentile. 85% of people at the DMV waited 32 minutes or less. 15% of people at the DMV waited 32 minutes or longer.
In a survey collecting data about the salaries earned by recent college graduates, Li found that her salary was in the 78 th percentile. Should Li be pleased or upset by this result? Explain.
In a study collecting data about the repair costs of damage to automobiles in a certain type of crash tests, a certain model of car had $1,700 in damage and was in the 90 th percentile. Should the manufacturer and the consumer be pleased or upset by this result? Explain and write a sentence that interprets the 90 th percentile in the context of this problem.
The manufacturer and the consumer would be upset. This is a large repair cost for the damages, compared to the other cars in the sample. INTERPRETATION: 90% of the crash tested cars had damage repair costs of $1700 or less; only 10% had damage repair costs of $1700 or more.
The University of California has two criteria used to set admission standards for freshman to be admitted to a college in the UC system:
Suppose that you are buying a house. You and your realtor have determined that the most expensive house you can afford is the 34 th percentile. The 34 th percentile of housing prices is $240,000 in the town you want to move to. In this town, can you afford 34% of the houses or 66% of the houses?
You can afford 34% of houses. 66% of the houses are too expensive for your budget. INTERPRETATION: 34% of houses cost $240,000 or less. 66% of houses cost $240,000 or more.
Use [link] to calculate the following values:
First quartile = _______
Third quartile = _______
Interquartile range ( IQR ) = _____ – _____ = _____
6 – 4 = 2
10 th percentile = _______
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