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Descriptive Statistics

12 practice questions with full worked solutions. Free, no account needed.

Problems & worked solutions

Problem #0009 International

Problem 1 Mean, Median, Mode

The dataset {2,4,4,6,9} has mean m and median M. Compute m+M.

Show answer & worked solution
  1. A. 8
  2. B. 9✓ correct
  3. C. 10
  4. D. 11

Mean: (2+4+4+6+9)/5=25/5=5. Median (middle of the sorted set): 4. So m+M=5+4=9.

Problem #3572 International

Problem 2 Mean, Median, Mode

A shop recorded the number of bicycles it sold on each of six days: 8, 15, 6, 11, 19, 10. The median number of bicycles sold per day is:

Show answer & worked solution
  1. A. 10.5✓ correct
  2. B. 11.5
  3. C. 10
  4. D. 11
  5. E. 8.5

Written in increasing order, the six daily totals are:

6, 8, 10, 11, 15, 19

With n=6 there is no single central day: the two central positions are the 3rd and the 4th, holding 10 and 11.

The median is the mean of that pair:

10+112=10.5

Problem #3571 International

Problem 3 Mean, Median, Mode

The table shows the number of goals a football team scored in each of its 20 matches this season.

| Goals scored | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Number of matches | 3 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 1 |

The modal number of goals is:

Show answer & worked solution
  1. A. 1✓ correct
  2. B. 7
  3. C. 2
  4. D. 4
  5. E. 1.5

The frequencies are 3, 7, 5, 4 and 1, and they total 3+7+5+4+1=20, matching the 20 matches played.

The largest frequency is 7, and it sits in the column headed 1: the team scored exactly 1 goal in 7 matches, more often than any other score. No other score is reached that many times, so the modal value is unique.

mode=1

Problem #3384 International

Problem 4 Spread, Variance, Standard Deviation

The variance of the values 1,2,3 is:

Show answer & worked solution
  1. A. 13
  2. B. 23✓ correct
  3. C. 2
  4. D. 63

Mean: xˉ=1+2+33=2.

Squared deviations:

(12)2+(22)2+(32)2=1+0+1=2

So σ2=23.

Problem #3385 International

Problem 5 Spread, Variance, Standard Deviation

The standard deviation of a statistical series is equal to:

Show answer & worked solution
  1. A. the square of the variance
  2. B. the square root of the variance✓ correct
  3. C. the mean of the series values
  4. D. the sum of the values divided by n

By definition, the standard deviation σ is the square root of the variance σ2:

σ=σ2

The mean and the sum divided by n denote the arithmetic mean, not the standard deviation.

Problem #3383 International

Problem 6 Spread, Variance, Standard Deviation

The arithmetic mean of the values 2,4,6 is:

Show answer & worked solution
  1. A. 3
  2. B. 5
  3. C. 4✓ correct
  4. D. 12

With n=3 values:

xˉ=2+4+63=123=4

Problem #3386 International

Problem 7 Spread, Variance, Standard Deviation

For the values 4,4,4,4, the variance is equal to:

Show answer & worked solution
  1. A. 0✓ correct
  2. B. 4
  3. C. 16
  4. D. 2

Mean: xˉ=4+4+4+44=4.

All deviations are zero: xixˉ=0 for every i, so

σ2=14(02+02+02+02)=0

Problem #0940 US SAT

Problem 8 Descriptive Statistics

The mean of the data set {2,4,4,6,9} is:

Show answer & worked solution
  1. A. 4
  2. B. 5✓ correct
  3. C. 6
  4. D. 4.5

Sum =2+4+4+6+9=25.

Mean =255=5.

Problem #3573 International

Problem 9 Mean, Median, Mode

A set of 8 numbers has mean 12. When one of the numbers is removed, the remaining 7 numbers have mean 13. The number that was removed is:

Show answer & worked solution
  1. A. 5✓ correct
  2. B. 20
  3. C. 1
  4. D. 12
  5. E. 13

The eight original numbers add up to:

8×12=96

The seven numbers that remain add up to:

7×13=91

The two totals contain exactly the same numbers except for the one that was deleted, so that number is the gap between them:

9691=5

As a check, 5 lies below the original mean of 12, so deleting it pulls the mean of what is left upwards — consistent with the new mean of 13.

Problem #3574 International

Problem 10 Spread, Variance, Standard Deviation

A survey of 10 households records the number of pets in each household:

Pets01234Households12421

The population variance of the number of pets per household is:

Show answer & worked solution
  1. A. 1.2✓ correct
  2. B. 2
  3. C. 2.4
  4. D. 3.2
  5. E. 5.2

Total frequency: f=1+2+4+2+1=10.

Weighted total: fx=01+12+24+32+41=0+2+8+6+4=20, so

xˉ=2010=2

Weighted squared deviations, using d=x2:

f(xxˉ)2=14+21+40+21+14=12

Dividing by the total frequency 10:

σ2=1210=1.2

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