Methods of Variability Measurement

Quartiles

Quartiles: Data can be divided into four regions that cover the total range of
observed values. Cut points for these regions are known as quartiles.

In notations, quartiles of a data is the ((n+1)/4)qth observation of the data, where

q is the desired quartile and n is the number of observations of data.
 Deciles
Deciles: If data is ordered and divided into 10 parts, then cut points are called
Deciles
 Percentiles
Percentiles: If data is ordered and
divided into 100 parts, then cut
points are called Percentiles. 25th
percentile is the Q1, 50th percentile
is the Median (Q2) and the 75th
percentile of the data is Q3.

In notations, percentiles of a data is

the ((n+1)/100)p th observation of
the data, where p is the desired
percentile and n is the number of
observations of data.
Z score
 Z score
• An extreme value or outlier is a value located
far away from the mean.
• The Z score, which is the difference between
the value and the mean, divided by the standard
deviation, is useful in identifying outliers.
• Values located far away from the mean will have
either very small (negative) Z scores or very
large (positive) Z scores.
 Z Score

• The z value or z score tells the number of

standard deviations the original
measurement is from the mean.

• The z value is in standard units.

Formula for z score

x
z

 Calculating z-scores
The amount of time it takes for a pizza
delivery is approximately normally
distributed with a mean of 25 minutes and
a standard deviation of 2 minutes.
Convert 21 minutes to a z score.

x   21  25
z   2.00
 2
 Calculating z-scores
Mean delivery time = 25 minutes
Standard deviation = 2 minutes
Convert 29.7 minutes to a z score.

x   29.7  25
z   2.35
 2
 Interpreting z-scores
Mean delivery time = 25 minutes
Standard deviation = 2 minutes
Interpret a z score of 1.6.

x  z    1.6( 2 )  25  28 .2
The delivery time is 28.2 minutes.
 Example
• To further analyze the sample of 10 times to get ready in
the morning, you can compute the Z scores.
• Because the mean is 39.6 minutes, the standard
deviation is 6.77 minutes, and the time to get ready on
the first day is 39.0 minutes.
Percentile
 Shape of a Distribution
• Describe How Data are Distributed
• Measures of Shape
– Symmetric or skewed

Left-Skewed Symmetric Right-Skewed

Mean < Median < Mode Mean = Median =Mode Mode < Median < Mean

© 2004 Prentice-Hall, Chap 3-15

Inc.
 Five-Number Summary
• A five-number summary, which consists
of the following, provides a way to
determine the shape of a distribution:
• Xsmallest
• Q1
• Median
• Q3
• Xlargest
 The Boxplot
• A box plot or boxplot is a method for
graphically depicting groups of numerical
data through their quartiles.
The Boxplot
 Construct a boxplot and describe its shape

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