Statistics Concepts
The Santo Domingo city hall wants to know how many young people use the Metro or the cable car to get to school. It can't ask everyone, so it picks a few and uses their answers to draw conclusions about everybody. For those conclusions to be valid, you have to choose carefully whom to ask and what to record. That is the first thing statistics teaches.
Population, sample, and individual
A sample is representative when it resembles the population: it is chosen at random and doesn't leave out any important group.
To find out the favorite video game of the students at a high school of $850$ students, a survey was given to $40$ students chosen at random during recess. Identify the…
To find out the favorite video game of the students at a high school of $850$ students, a survey was given to $40$ students chosen at random during recess. Identify the following elements of the study:
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Population
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Sample
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Individual
A study is to be carried out to find out the favorite ice cream flavor of the inhabitants of a town of $50,000$ people. To do this, the first $100$ customers entering a…
A study is to be carried out to find out the favorite ice cream flavor of the inhabitants of a town of $50,000$ people. To do this, the first $100$ customers entering a town center ice cream shop on a Monday morning are asked.
Do you think this sample is representative of the entire population of the town? Briefly explain your answer.
A municipality wants to know the digital leisure habits of teenagers aged between 12 and 16. To do this, it randomly selects 400 students from three different high…
A municipality wants to know the digital leisure habits of teenagers aged between 12 and 16. To do this, it randomly selects 400 students from three different high schools and asks them how many hours per day on average they spend on social media (TikTok, Instagram, etc.).
Identify the following elements of the statistical study:
- a) The population.
- b) The sample.
- c) The individual.
- d) The statistical characteristic studied and its classification.
Proportional sample
When the population is divided into groups (for example, several schools), a fair sample takes from each group a part that is proportional to its size. This is a direct proportionality rule.
A municipality wants to conduct a survey on bike lane usage among young people. To do this, it selects $450$ students from three different high schools proportionally to…
A municipality wants to conduct a survey on bike lane usage among young people. To do this, it selects $450$ students from three different high schools proportionally to the total number of students in each school. There are $600$ students in School A, $400$ students in School B, and $500$ students in School C.
- a) State the population, the sample, and the individual in this statistical study.
- b) How many students should be selected from each school for the sample to be representative and proportional?
- c) Classify the variable "daily time (in minutes) each young person uses a bicycle" according to its nature.
Qualitative variables
The statistical variable (or characteristic) is what is recorded for each individual. Qualitative variables take values that are not numbers but qualities.
If in a statistical study the population consists of all the cars in a town and the variable is "car color", identify: a) The individual. b) The type of variable…
If in a statistical study the population consists of all the cars in a town and the variable is "car color", identify:
- a) The individual.
- b) The type of variable (Qualitative or Quantitative).
- c) Suggest three possible values this variable can take.
Classify the following statistical variables as qualitative or quantitative: a) Your friends' favorite color. b) The number of WhatsApp messages you receive per day. c)…
Classify the following statistical variables as qualitative or quantitative:
- a) Your friends' favorite color.
- b) The number of WhatsApp messages you receive per day.
- c) The brand of sneakers worn by the students in your class.
- d) The amount of money you save each month.
Look at the following statistical variables related to a school trip and classify them: 1. Destination country. 2. Duration in number of days. 3. Distance traveled in…
Look at the following statistical variables related to a school trip and classify them:
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Destination country.
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Duration in number of days.
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Distance traveled in kilometers.
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Level of satisfaction (Very low, Low, Medium, High).
Quantitative variables
| Type | Values | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Nominal qualitative | Qualities with no order | Cell phone brand, movie genre |
| Ordinal qualitative | Qualities with order | Star rating, satisfaction |
| Discrete quantitative | Numbers that are counted | Messages, siblings, goals |
| Continuous quantitative | Numbers that are measured | Usage time, temperature, weight |
An animal shelter wants to conduct a study on the health of its dogs. To do so, the vet records the weight of each of the $35$ dogs living there. State the statistical…
An animal shelter wants to conduct a study on the health of its dogs. To do so, the vet records the weight of each of the $35$ dogs living there.
State the statistical variable studied and classify it (qualitative, discrete quantitative or continuous quantitative).
Classify these quantitative variables as discrete or continuous: a) The number of cousins each student has. b) The exact time it takes you to get from home to school. c)…
Classify these quantitative variables as discrete or continuous:
- a) The number of cousins each student has.
- b) The exact time it takes you to get from home to school.
- c) The temperature of a drink can when coming out of the vending machine.
- d) The number of books in your classroom library.
A streaming platform analyzes data from its teenage users to improve its algorithm. Classify the following variables collected in the study: a) Number of devices…
A streaming platform analyzes data from its teenage users to improve its algorithm. Classify the following variables collected in the study:
- a) Number of devices connected simultaneously in the household.
- b) Favorite movie genre (horror, comedy, action, etc.).
- c) Total weekly viewing time (in hours and minutes).
- d) Rating given to a series (1 star, 2 stars, 3 stars, 4 stars or 5 stars).
- e) Brand of the main device used to watch content.
Explain whether any of these quantitative variables could be treated as qualitative in a given context.
Frequency tables
When there is a lot of data, it is organized in a table.
The mode is the value with the highest absolute frequency.
In a survey carried out in a class of $25$ students about which social network they prefer (TikTok, Instagram or Twitter), the following answers were obtained: | Social…
In a survey carried out in a class of $25$ students about which social network they prefer (TikTok, Instagram or Twitter), the following answers were obtained:
| Social network | Number of students |
|---|---|
| TikTok | $12$ |
| $9$ | |
| $4$ |
What is the name of the value that is repeated the most in this study? State what that value is in this survey.
An animal shelter has recorded the age (in years) of the dogs adopted over the last month. The data obtained is as follows: $$2, 1, 5, 3, 2, 4, 1, 2, 3, 2, 5, 1, 4, 2,…
An animal shelter has recorded the age (in years) of the dogs adopted over the last month. The data obtained is as follows:
$$2, 1, 5, 3, 2, 4, 1, 2, 3, 2, 5, 1, 4, 2, 3$$Construct a frequency table that includes:
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Variable ($x_i$)
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Absolute frequency ($n_i$)
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Relative frequency ($f_i$)
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Cumulative absolute frequency ($N_i$)
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Percentage ($\%$)
A survey was conducted on the number of hours 9th grade students sleep on a weekday. We have the following incomplete data from the frequency table, where $x_i$ is the…
A survey was conducted on the number of hours 9th grade students sleep on a weekday. We have the following incomplete data from the frequency table, where $x_i$ is the number of hours, $n_i$ the absolute frequency, $h_i$ the relative frequency and $H_i$ the cumulative relative frequency:
| $x_i$ | $n_i$ | $h_i$ | $H_i$ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 4 | 0.16 | |
| 7 | 0.24 | ||
| 8 | 10 | ||
| 9 | |||
| 10 | 2 | 1.00 |
- a) Calculate the total sample size ($N$).
- b) Fill in all the gaps in the frequency table.
- c) What percentage of students sleep 8 hours or more?
Data grouped in intervals
If the variable is continuous or takes many values, the values are grouped into intervals $[a, b)$ (includes $a$, does not include $b$). For each interval we use its class mark, the midpoint:
$$\text{class mark} = \frac{a + b}{2}$$A histogram draws bars touching each other, with a height equal to the frequency of each interval.
An e-sports club measured the reaction time (in milliseconds) of its players. As it is a continuous variable, the data has been grouped into the following intervals: |…
An e-sports club measured the reaction time (in milliseconds) of its players. As it is a continuous variable, the data has been grouped into the following intervals:
| Time (ms) | Frequency ($n_i$) |
|---|---|
| $[150, 170)$ | $6$ |
| $[170, 190)$ | $12$ |
| $[190, 210)$ | $18$ |
| $[210, 230)$ | $4$ |
- a) Calculate the class midpoints of each interval.
- b) Represent the data using a histogram.
- c) In which interval is the reaction time of most players found?
You can do it on paper and send a photo with your answer.
The following histogram represents the time (in minutes) it takes students to get from home to school. The data has been grouped into intervals of the form $[a, b)$. a)…
The following histogram represents the time (in minutes) it takes students to get from home to school. The data has been grouped into intervals of the form $[a, b)$.
- a) Construct the absolute frequency table from the graph, identifying the class midpoints of each interval.
- b) Calculate the mean time it takes students to get to school using the class midpoints.
- c) In which interval is the median of the data found? Explain your reasoning.
You can do it on paper and send a photo with your answer.
Graphs and two-way tables
The most commonly used graphs:
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Bar graph: for qualitative or discrete variables; the height of each bar is the frequency.
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Histogram: for grouped data.
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Pie chart: divides a circle of $360^\circ$ into sectors proportional to the frequencies.
For the pie chart, the angle of each sector is
$$\text{angle} = \frac{n_i}{N} \times 360^\circ$$Two-way table
When two variables are recorded at the same time, a table with rows and columns is used. Each total is the sum of its row or column, and the grand total must add up both ways. For a probability using the Laplace rule: $P = \dfrac{\text{favorable cases}}{\text{possible cases}}$, using only the row or column that the problem indicates.
Misleading graphs
If the vertical axis does not start at zero, a small difference looks enormous. The data are the same, but the visual effect is misleading.
Look at the following graph representing the number of books read by a group of students during the summer holidays: Based on the graph above, answer: a) How many…
Look at the following graph representing the number of books read by a group of students during the summer holidays:
Based on the graph above, answer:
- a) How many students were asked in total?
- b) What is the most frequent value of the variable? What is this statistic called?
- c) What percentage of students read exactly 2 books?
In a study on the eye color of students at a high school, the following data was obtained: | Color | $n_i$ | | :--- | :---: | | Brown | $120$ | | Blue | $30$ | | Green |…
In a study on the eye color of students at a high school, the following data was obtained:
| Color | $n_i$ |
|---|---|
| Brown | $120$ |
| Blue | $30$ |
| Green | $50$ |
- a) What type of variable is "Eye color"?
- b) Can the mean of this data be calculated? Why?
- c) If we wanted to represent this data in a circle graph, calculate the size of the central angle (in degrees) that would correspond to the "Green eyes" sector.
A survey was conducted in a 9th grade class on preferred music genre by gender. The results are shown in this two-way table: | | Pop | Rock | Trap | Total | | :--- |…
A survey was conducted in a 9th grade class on preferred music genre by gender. The results are shown in this two-way table:
| Pop | Rock | Trap | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girls | $8$ | $3$ | $4$ | $15$ |
| Boys | $5$ | $6$ | $15$ | |
| Total | $9$ | 30 |
- a) Complete the missing data in the table.
- b) What percentage of the whole class prefers Rock?
- c) If we choose a boy at random, what is the probability that his preferred music is Pop? Use Laplace's rule.
Look at the following two graphs representing the price evolution of a model of sneakers in two different stores over the same 4-month period. a) Explain why the graph…
Look at the following two graphs representing the price evolution of a model of sneakers in two different stores over the same 4-month period.
- a) Explain why the graph for Store B appears to show a much steeper price rise than the graph for Store A, even though the actual price data is identical in both.
- b) What is this visual effect called in statistics and why is it considered a misleading practice?
- c) Describe how the vertical axis of Store B should be set up so that the comparison is objective.
Mean, median, mode, and range
A single number can summarize a lot of data.
See how they change when you modify the data:
A student obtained the following marks in the Mathematics tests during the second term: $$7.5; \quad 8.2; \quad 9.0; \quad 2.1; \quad 8.7$$ a) Calculate the mean…
A student obtained the following marks in the Mathematics tests during the second term:
$$7.5; \quad 8.2; \quad 9.0; \quad 2.1; \quad 8.7$$- a) Calculate the mean ($\bar{x}$) and the median ($Me$).
- b) If the teacher decides that the term mark will be the median instead of the mean so that a "bad day" does not hurt as much, what would their mark be?
- c) Explain why the median is more representative than the mean in this case.
Two basketball teams scored the following points in their last 5 matches: Team A: $72, 75, 74, 73, 76$ Team B: $50, 95, 60, 110, 55$ a) Calculate the mean and the range…
Two basketball teams scored the following points in their last 5 matches:
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Team A: $72, 75, 74, 73, 76$
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Team B: $50, 95, 60, 110, 55$
- a) Calculate the mean and the range of both teams.
- b) Looking at the results, which of the two teams is more consistent in its scoring? Justify your answer by connecting the mean with the spread of the data.
The mean mark of a group of 12 students in a mathematics test was $6.5$. After reviewing the tests, the teacher realizes that he made a mistake with two students: he…
The mean mark of a group of 12 students in a mathematics test was $6.5$. After reviewing the tests, the teacher realizes that he made a mistake with two students: he gave one student a $4$ when they actually had a $7$, and he gave another a $9$ when they actually had a $6$.
- a) What is the total sum of the marks of the 12 students before the correction?
- b) What is the new mean of the group after correcting the errors?
- c) Can we know if the median has changed with this data? Justify your answer.
In a talent show, a contestant receives the following scores from 5 judges: $8, 7, 9, 8$ and an unknown fifth score ($x$). a) If the mean of the five scores is $8.2$,…
In a talent show, a contestant receives the following scores from 5 judges: $8, 7, 9, 8$ and an unknown fifth score ($x$).
- a) If the mean of the five scores is $8.2$, what is the score of the fifth judge?
- b) If the competition rules state that to calculate the final score, the highest and lowest scores must be removed and the mean of the remaining three calculated, what would the contestant's final score be with the value of $x$ found previously?
- c) How would it affect the median of the five original scores if the fifth judge had given them a $10$ instead of the value $x$?
A study on digital leisure in 13-year-old teenagers yields the following data on the number of daily hours spent in front of a screen: $$3, 5, 2, 4, 3, 2, 8, 3, 1, 4, 3,…
A study on digital leisure in 13-year-old teenagers yields the following data on the number of daily hours spent in front of a screen:
$$3, 5, 2, 4, 3, 2, 8, 3, 1, 4, 3, 2, 3, 5, 3, 10, 2, 3, 4, 1$$- a) Calculate the three measures of central tendency: mean, median and mode.
- b) Looking at the values of the mean and median, would you say the distribution is symmetrical or that there are extreme values skewing the mean? Justify your answer by identifying these values.
- c) If we remove the two users with the highest screen time, what would the new median be? Explain whether this measure is sensitive to extreme values in the same way as the mean.
Back to the beginning: in the study about the Metro and the cable car, the population is all the young people in the city, the sample is the respondents chosen at random from several schools, and the variable (how many times a week they use it) is discrete quantitative.