Paper 2 – STATISTICS
The Cumulative Frequency Curve
A cumulative frequency curve, also called the Orgive curve can be used to find the mean,
quartiles (lower, upper, interquartiles, semi-interquartiles) of a given distribution. To find the
cumulative frequency, find the accumulated totals and plot them against the data or score
values. The cumulative frequency is formed by joining the points with a smooth curve.
Question
Answer the whole of this question on a sheet of graph paper.
The waiting time for 55 passengers at the power tools bus station in Kitwe for them to board
a Lusaka bound bus on a particular day were as follows:-
Waiting time
1≤ 𝑥 ≤ 3 4≤𝑥 ≤6 7≤ 𝑥 ≤ 9 10≤ 𝑥 ≤ 12 13 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 15
(in minutes)
Number of
6 11 20 13 5
Passengers
a) Calculate the estimate of the mean waiting time.
b) Copy and complete the cumulative frequency table below.
Waiting time
≤3 ≤6 ≤9 ≤ 12 ≤ 15
(in minutes)
Number of
6 17 55
Passengers
c) Using a horizontal scale of 2cm to represent 2 minutes for times from 0 to 15 minutes and
a vertical scale of 2cm to represent 10 passengers.
Draw a smooth cumulative frequency curve.
d) Showing your method clearly, use your graph to estimate the
i. Median
ii. Lower quartile
iii. Upper quartile
iv. Interquartile range
v. Semi-interquartile range
vi. 60th percentile
e) Find the number of passengers who waited for more than 6 minutes.
f) (i) If a passenger was chosen at random, find the probability that he waited for less than 9
minutes.
g) If two passengers were chosen at random. Find the probability that they both waited for
more than 12 minutes.
Relative Cumulative Frequency Table
The Table below shows a frequency table of the marks obtained by 120 pupils in a
Mathematics Test.
Marks 0 -4 5–9 10 – 14 15 – 19 20 – 24 25 – 29 30 – 34 35 – 39 40 – 44 45 – 49
Frequency 0 4 6 10 14 24 28 19 9 6
i. Construct the relative cumulative frequency curve for the above mentioned data.
ii. From the curve, estimate the 74th percentile.
𝐶𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦
a) Relative cumulative frequency = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦
Mark Frequency Cumulative Relative Cumulative
Frequency Frequency
0–4 0 0 0
=0
120
5–9 4 4 4
= 0.03
120
10 – 14 6 10 10
= 0.08
120
15 – 19 10 20 20
= 0.17
120
20 – 24 14 34 34
= 0.28
120
25 – 29 24 58 58
= 0.48
120
30 – 34 28 86 86
= 0.72
120
35 – 39 19 105 105
= 0.88
120
40 – 44 9 114 114
= 0.95
120
45 – 49 6 120 120
= 1.00
120
1.00
0.9
0.8
74th Percent
0.7
Frequency
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Marks
b) 74th Percentile
=74 (1.00)
100
= 0.74
= 34.5 Marks
Variance and Standard Deviation
1.1 Ungrouped Data
Variance
This is a measure of spread that measures the distances or spread of data about the
mean. It is found by the formula.
(𝑥 − 𝑥)
Variance = ∑𝑛𝑖=1
𝑛
Where x is the mean of x1, x2, x3, …..., xi and R is the number of observations.
An alternative method that can be used to calculate the variance for ungrouped is
𝑥2 2
Variance = ∑ 𝑛 − (𝑥)
1.2 Standard Deviation
The standard deviation is the positive square root of the variance.
Standard deviation = √𝑉𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
(S.D)
It can be calculated by the formula
Standard deviation = √∑(𝑥 − 𝑥) 2
𝑛
Alternatively, the standard deviation of the ungrouped data can be found by the
formula
2 2 Where 𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛
S.D = √∑ 𝑥 − (𝑥)
𝑛
Question 1
Calculate the variance and standard deviation of the following set of data.
8, 5, 10, 25 and 32.
Solution
Mean 𝑥 = ∑𝑥
𝑛
8+5+10+25+32
Mean 𝑥 = 5
80
x= 5
x = 16
Method 1
(𝑥−𝑥)2
Using Variance = ∑ 𝑛
Score Deviation (𝒙 − 𝒙)²
x x–x
8 -8 64
5 -11 121
10 -6 36
25 9 81
32 16 256
Ʃ 𝑥 = 80 Ʃ (𝑥 − 𝑥) = 0 Ʃ (𝑥 − 𝑥)² = 558
2.0. GROUPED DATA
2.1 THE MEAN OF GROUPED DATA
The mean of grouped data also called the estimate of the mean is denoted by x is calculated using the
formula
Mean (𝑥) = ∑𝑓𝑥
∑𝑓
2.2 THE STANDARD DEVIATION OF GROUPED DATA
The formula used to calculate the standard deviation of the grouped data is
Standard deviation = √∑ 𝑓(𝑥 − 𝑥) 2
𝑛
Where 𝑛 = ∑𝑓 𝑥 = ∑𝑓𝑥
∑𝑓
The alternative formula for calculating the standard deviation is
Standard deviation = √∑ 𝑓𝑥2 − 𝑥 2
𝑥 = ∑𝑓𝑥
∑𝑓 where ∑𝑓
Variance ==Mean (𝑥) = ∑(𝑥 − 𝑥)2
𝑛
= 558
5
=111.6 (Id.p)
= √𝑉𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
S.D
= √∑(𝑥 − 𝑥)2
𝑛
= √558
5
=10.56 (2d.p)
Standard deviation = √∑ 𝑥 2 − (𝑥) 2
𝑛
𝑥 = ∑𝑥
𝑥 𝑥2 𝑛
8 64
5 25 = 80
10 100 5
25 625 𝒙 = 𝟏𝟔
32 1024
∑𝑥 = 80 ∑𝑥2=1838
Standard deviation = √∑ 𝑥2 − (𝑥)2
𝑛
= √1838 − 16 2
5
= √111.6
= 𝟏𝟎. 𝟓𝟔
Question
An intelligence quotient test that was taken by pupils at Kitwe Boys Secondary School in Kitwe
Showed the following results.
Time taken 0<x<1 1<x<2 2<x<3 3<x<5 5<x<10
(Minutes)
Frequency 10 15 25 40 25
Find
(a) The estimate of the mean
(b) The standard deviation
Solution
To calculate the estimate of the mean and standard deviation, we use the mid-internal or midpoint x
Time 𝒙 𝑓 𝑓𝑥 𝑓𝑥 2
0 < 𝑥 <1 0.5 10 5 2.5
1 < 𝑥 <2
.. 1.5 15 22.5 33.75
2 < 𝑥 <3 2.5 25 62.5 156.25
3 < 𝑥 <5 4 40 160 640
5 < 𝑥 <10 7.5 25 187.5 1406.25
∑𝑓 = 115 ∑𝑓𝑥 = 437.5 ∑𝑓𝑥 = 2238.75
(a)estimate of the mean
𝑥 = ∑𝑓𝑥
∑𝑓
𝑥 = 437.5
115
𝒙 = 𝟑. 𝟖𝟎
(b)S.D
S.D= √∑ 𝑓𝑥 2 − (𝑥)2
∑𝑓
S.D= √2238.75 − 3.80 2
115
𝑆. 𝐷 = 2.2 (𝐼𝑑. 𝑝)
(c) (i) Median = ½ Q
Q2 = ½ x 55
=27.5
Q2 =7.8 Minutes
(ii) Lower Quartile = ¼ Q
Q1 = ¼ x55
= 13.75
Q1 = 5.2 Minutes
(iii) Upper quartile = ¾ Q
Q3 =3/4 x55
= 41.25
=9.7 Minutes
(iv) Interquartile range = Upper quartile – Lower quartile
= Q3 - Q1
9.7- 5.2
4.5 Minutes
(v) Semi – interquartile range = 1.2 x interquartile range
½ x 4.5 Minutes
2.25 Minutes
(Vii) 60th Percentile = 60 X 56
100
60% of Q = 33.6
= 8.45 Minutes
(d) 55-17
=38 Pupils
P(> 6 Minutes) = 38
55
(e) (i) P(<9 Minutes ) = 37
55
(ii) P(< 12 Minutes and < 12 Minutes )
P(> 2Minutes) x P(< 12 Minutes )
5 X 4 =2
55 54 297
a) Mean (𝑥) = ∑𝑓𝑥 𝑥 = 2x 6 + 5x11 + 8x20 + 11x12 + 14+5
∑𝑓 55
𝑥 = 12+55+160+132+70 = 429
55 55
𝑥 = 7.8 Minutes (I.d.p)
Waiting time (mm) <3 <6 <9 <12 <15
Frequency 16 17 37 50 55
60
Number of Passengers
50
Upper Quartile
40 (Q )
60th Percentile
30 Median (Q2)
20
Lower Quartile
10
0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Waiting time in
minutes