CHAPTER 13.

DATA AND STATISTICS

42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot. - Steven Wright

3
1 ____________
1
CHAPTER

__
,_. ___________ Data and Statistics
In most of your classes, you probably have lots of graded assignments. At the end of the year,
your teacher has a bunch of numbers from these assignments to tell how well you did. These
numbers are data, or information, about how well you did in the course. So, at the end of the
year, how does your teacher describe how you performed? Your teacher probably only reports
a single number or letter rather than reporting the whole list. This single number is called a
statistic.
In this chapter we consider ways to use statistics, and other visual depictions of data such
as tables, graphs, and charts, to provide information about lists of numbers.

Sidenote: The word "data" is used as both a singular and a plural noun. When
referring to a specific group of numbers, we use "data" as a plu­
J'
ral noun. For example, we could write, "The data we collected in
the experiment are attached in ah appendix." When referring to in­
formation as a general concept rather than to specific collections of
. numbers, we typically use "data" as a singular noun. For example,
we might write, "Data is very important when trying to make good
decisions."

13.1 Basic Statistics

One way to provide information about a list of numbers is to use a single number to describe
some feature of the numbers in the list. Here are three basic ways to choose that representative
value.

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 13.1. BASIC STATISTICS

• Average: The average of a group of numbers is the sum of the numbers divided by the
number of numbers in the group. For example, the average of 3, 5, 6, and 10 is 3+5�6+ 10 ,
which equals 6. The average is also called the mean or the arithmetic mean.
We sometimes use the word "average" as a verb. For example, we may say that
a basketball player averages 23 points per game. This means that the average of the
player's point totals from all of her games is 23. An alternative way of saying this is that
23 is the player's average point total "over" all of her games.

• Median: If we list a group of numbers from least to greatest, the median of the group is
the number in the middle. So, the median of the numbers in the list

4, 5, 7, 8, 11

is 7. If there is an even number of numbers in the group, then the median is the average
of the middle two numbers. For example, the median of the list

4, 5, 5, 7, 8, 11

is the average of 5 and 7, which is 5;7 = 6.

• Mode: The mode of a group of numbers is the number that appears most frequently in
the group. So, the mode of
3,3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
is 3. A group can have multiple modes if there are multiple numbers that appear the
same number of times. (We won't discuss mode very much because it's not as useful as
average or median.)

Important: When determining the average, median, or mode of a group of

w i;i:umbers, the order of the numbers in the group is not important.
For example, the average of the list 2, 5, 9, 11, 13 and the average of
·.:c�/the list 9, 13, 2, 11, 5 are the same (they're both 8), and the medians
· are the same too (they're both 9).

Average, median, and mode are examples of statistics. As you continue your study of math
and science (and, indeed, any subject in which data is important), you'll learn about many
more types of statistics.

Sidenote: Another statistic that you'll sometimes see is range. The range of a
group of numbers is the difference between the greatest number and
,f the least number. For example, the range of the list 9, 13, 2, 11, 5 is
13 -2 = 11.

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CHAPTER 1 3. DATA AND STATISTICS

WARNING!! Some textbooks and reference books refer to mean, median,

•.,• and mode all as "averages." In day-to-day usage, the term
"average" nearly always refers to the mean, so we have adopted
this common usage of the term "average" in this text.

ft��lem 13.1: Suppose the following are your grades on tests this year:
,,;1 · -,-! i

73, 84, 100, 91, 92, 96, 84.

(a) What is the average of your test scores?

i(B,f: ,yVhat is the median of your test scores?
':! i·
ft) What is the mode of your test scores?

Problem 13.2: In the first four of Homer's five bowling games, he gets scores of 212, 184, 165,
and 173.
(a) What must Homer bowl in his fifth game to make his average score over the five games
.c'be 190?
'(b)· After Homer's fifth game, is it possible for the median score of the five games to be 190?
(�f · All bowling scores are integers from O to 300. What are the possible values of the median
:,'' � of Homer's scores after his fifth game?

Problem 13.3: In this problem, we explore another way to think about average. The heights,
in inches, of the people on my stilts team are

53, 54, 56, 53, 56, 57, 55, 53, 54, 54.

(a) What is the average height of the people on my team?

(b) For each person on the team who is taller than the average, find the positive difference
between that person's height and the average height. Find the sum of these differences.
(c) For each person on the team who is shorter than the average, find the positive difference
,, between the average height and that person's height. Find the sum of these differences.
(d) You should notice an interesting relationship between your answers in parts (b) and (c).
(If you don't, then try the first three parts again.) Can you explain why this relationship
occurs?

Problem 13.4: Suppose you average 82 on your first 7 tests in a class. What must you score
on the eighth test to raise your average to 84?

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 1 3.1 . BASIC STATISTICS

Problem 13.5: In their first 6 games, the Sixers averaged 81 points, In their next 4 games,ithe
Sixers averaged 73 points.
(a) What is the Sixers' average score for all 10 games?
(b) What must the Sixers average in their next 5 games so that 80 will bf their ayJ:Htgls
· core
, ' . over all 15 games? ,

Problem 13.6:
(a} Mary has five, bags of candy. The numbers of pieees in the bags.aret6i�81:12/J:;4{{�����''.
'
/ ' ' ,: , '. , "')".(·\{;;:t ·,

What is the average number of pieces per bag?

(b) Mary adds 23 pieces to each bag. Now what is the average number of pieces per bag? ·
(c) Find the average of the following 6 numbers:
·,

5647205, 5647203, 5647211, 5647212;5647224, 564721?;

Problem 13.7: The mean of a set of five different positive integers is 15: The median is, 18,.
y\Thatis the maximum possible value of the largest of these five in��gers? (Source: AMCS) .·

Problem 13.1: Suppose the following are your grades on tests this year:

73, 84, 100, 91, 92, 96, 84.

(a) What is the average of your test scores?

(b) What is the median of your test scores?
(c) What is the mode oryour test scores?

Solution for Problem 13.1:

(a) To find the average, we divide the sum of the scores by the number of scores:
73 + 84 + 100 + 91 + 92 + 96 + 84 620 4
= 7 = 88 7'
7

(b) First, we list the grades in order:

73, 84, 84, 91, 92, 96, 100.

The middle grade is 91, so the median is 91.

(c) The grade 84 occurs twice, and each other grade in the list only occurs once. Since 84 occurs
more often than any other grade, 84 is the mode.
D

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CHAPTER 1 3. DATA AND STATISTICS

Problem 13.2: In the first four of Homer's five bowling games, he gets scores of 212, 184,
165, and 173.
(a) What must Homer bowl in his fifth game to make his average score over the five games
be 190?
(b) After Homer's fifth game, is it possible for the median score of the five games to be 190?
(c) Allbowling scores are integers from O to 300. What are the possible values of the median
of Homer's scores after his fifth game?

Solution for Problem 13.2:

(a) Here are two solutions:
Solution 1: Assign a variable to the fifth score. We let x be Homer's s,core in the fifth game.
Then, the average of the five scores is
212 + 184 + 165 + 173 + X
5
73 + x
Simplifying this gives � . We'd like this to equal 190, so we have the equation
734 + X
= 190
5
We multiply both sides by 5 to get rid of the fraction, giving us 734 + x = 950. Subtracting
734 from both sides gives x = 950 - 734 = 216.
Solution 2: Consider the sum of the 5 scores. We can skip all the algebra of our first solution
and jump straight to the last step. If the average of the 5 scores is 190, then the sum of the
5 scores must be 5 · 190, which equals 950. So, to figure out what Homer needs in his fifth
game, we simply subtract the first four scores from 950:
950 - 212 - 184 - 165 - 173 = 216.

Concept: The average of.a list of numbers gives us information about the sum
of the numbers in the list. Therefore, we can solve many problems
about averages by thinking about sums.
(b) We start by listing the first four scores in order:
165, 173, 184, 212.
After we add a new score to the list, the median score will be the score in the middle of
the ordered list. If the new score is greater than 184, then the new score will be after 184
in the ordered list, making 184 the middle number in the list. This would make 184 the
median score. If the new score is not greater than 184, then 184 will be the fourth score in
the ordered list. This would mean that the median is no greater than 184. Therefore, it's
impossible for Homer to raise his median to 190.

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 13.1. BASIC STATISTICS

(c) The previous part might make us wonder what values are possible for the median score.
As noted, if the new score is greater than 184, then 184 is the median. Similarly, if the new
score is less than 173, then 173 will be the middle score, and hence 173 will be the median.
If the new score is between 173 and 184 (or equal to either), then that new score will be
the median. Therefore, the median of the five scores can be any integer from 173 to 184,
including 173 and 184.
□
Problem i3.3: In this problem,we explore.i;\Ilother wayto think about average: The heights,
in inches, of the people on my stilts team are

53, 54, 56, 53, 56, 57, 55, 53, 54, 54.

(a) What is the average height of the people on my team?

,
(b) For each person on the team who is taller than the average, find the positive difference
between that person's height and the average height. Find the sum of these differences.
(c) For each person on the team who is shorter than the average,. find the positive difference
between the average height and that person'.s height. Find the sum of these differences.
(d) You should notice an interesting relation�Np between your answers in parts (b) and (c).
(If you don't, then try the first three parts [Link].) .Can you explain why this relationship
occurs?

Solution for Problem 13.3:

(a) The average height of the people on my team is

53 + 54 + 56 + 53 + 56 + 57 + 55 + 53 + 54 + 54 _ 545 _ .
10 - 10 - 5 4.5 mehes.

(b) There are four people whose heights are greater than the average, and their heights in
inches are 56, 56, 57, 55. Subtracting 54.5 from each of these numbers gives 1.5, 1 .5, 2.5, 0.5,
and adding these differences gives 1.5 + 1.5 + 2.5 + 0.5 = 6 inches.
(c) There are six people whose heights are less than the average, and their heights in inches
are 53, 54, 53, 53, 54, 54. Subtracting each of these numbers from 54.5 gives 1.5, 0.5, 1.5, 1.5,
0.5, 0.5. Adding these differences gives 1.5 + 0.5 + 1.5 + 1.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 = 6 inches.
(d) Our answers for parts (b) and (c) are the same!. That is, the total difference between the
4 above-average heights and the average height equals the total difference between the
average height and the 6 below-average heights. Let's see if this is just a coincidence.
We take a look at how much we have to change each student's height to make that
student's height equal to the average height:

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CHAPTER 13. DATA AND STATISTICS

Sum
Old Height: 53 54 56 53 56 57 55 53 54 54 545
Change: +1.5 +0.5 -1.5 +1.5 -1.5 -2.5 -0.5 +1.5 +0.5 +0.5 0
New Height: 54.5 54.5 54.5 54.5 54.5 54.5 54.5 54.5 54.5 54.5 545
The sum of the original heights divided by 10 equals the average, so the sum of the
original heights is 10 times the average, or 545. Each new height equals the average height,
so the sum of the new heights is also 10 times the average, or 545. Therefore, the sum of
all of the heights doesn't change when we make everyone's height equal to the original
average. This means the sum of all of our changes must be 0! So, the total amount that
we decrease the above-average heights must equal the total amount that we increase the
below-average heights.

□
Parts (b)-(d) of Problem 13.3 gives us a new way to think about the average of a list of
numbers:

[
which below-average _
·1 [
Concept: We can thinkof the average of a list of numbers as the number that
� makes the list balance. This means that:
the sum of the amounts by the sum of the amounts by
which'above0average
numbers are less than the - numbers are greater than
l
average the average

We saw this concept in Problem 13.3. In part (b), we computed the sum of the amounts by
which the above-average heights in the list were greater than the average, and it was 6. In part
(c), we computed the sum of the amounts by which the below-average heights in the list were
less than the average, and again it was 6. The average of 54.5 was the number that "balanced"
all of the heights in the list.
Let's put this new way of thinking about average to work in a problem.
Problem 13.4: Suppose you average 82 on your first 7 tests in a class. What must you score
on the eighth test to raise your average to 84?

Solution for Problem 13.4: Solution 1: Consider the sum of all the tests. In order to have an average
of 84 after 8 tests, the sum of the 8 test scores must be 8 · 84 = 672. The first 7 tests have an
average of 82, so the sum of the first 7 scores is 7 · 82 = 574. Therefore, the eighth score must be
672 -574 = 98.
Solution 2: Compare each test to the average, and balance. If we replace each of the first 7 scores
with the average score of 82, then we don't change the sum of the first 7 scores. (This is the
same idea as what we did in part (d) of Problem 13.3.) We also don't change the sum of the first
8 scores, no matter what the eighth score is. Therefore, changing the first 7 scores to 82 doesn't

482
 13.1. BASIC STATISTICS

change the average of the first 8 scores, either.

Concept: The average of a list of numbers only depends on the number of

� items in the list .and the sum of the items in the list. Therefore, if
�
we change all of the items in the list to be equal to the list's average,
then we don't change the average of the list.'

We need an eighth score that makes the average of seven 82's and the eighth score equal to
84. To find that eighth score, we compare each score to the average score, keeping in mind that
the new average of 84 must "balance" the eight scores. Each of the seven 82's is 2 fewer than
the average 84, so their total amount less than the average is 7 · 2 = 14. Therefore, in order for
the average to balance the scores, the new 8th score must be 14 greater than the average. Thus
the eighth score must be 84 + 14 = 98. □
Problem 13.5: In their first.6 games, the Sixersaveraged 81 points. In their next 4 games,
.the Sixers averaged 73 points,
(a) What is the Sixers' average score for all 10 games?
(b) What must the Sixers average in their next 5 games so that 80 will be their average score
over all 15 games?

Solutionfor Problem 13.5:

(a) To find the average score for all 10 games, we first find the sum of the scores for all 10
games. Since the Sixers average 81 points in the first 6 games, they score a total of 6 · 81
points in the first 6 games. Similarly, they score 4 • 73 points in the next 4 games. So, the
total number of points they score in the 10 games is
6 · 81 + 4 · 73 = 486 + 292 = 778.
Therefore the average score over these 10 games is 7J = 77.8 points.
(b) To make their average after 15 games equal 80, they must score a total of 15 · 80 = 1200
points in the 15 games. In part (a), we saw that they scored 778 points in the first 10 games.
So, in the final 5 games, they must score
1200 - 778 = 422
points. Therefore, their average score for the last 5 games must be �2 = 84.4 points.
We also could have used our balancing strategy from Problem 13.4. If the average after
15 games is 80 and the average for the first 10 games is 77.8, then the Sixers were 2.2 points
per game below their 15-game average for the first 10 games. That's a total of 2.2 -10 = 22
points below average for the first 10 games. So, they have to be a total of 22 points above
average for the last 5 games. That's¥ = 4.4 points above average per game, so they have
to average 80 + 4.4 = 84.4 points in the final five games.

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CHAPTER 13. DATA AND STATISTICS

Problem 13.6:
(a) Mary has five bags of candy. The numbers of pieces in the bags are 6, 8, 12, 14, and 15.
What is the average number of pieces per bag?
(b) Mary adds 23 pieces to each bag. Now what is the average number ofpieces per bag?
(c) Find the average of the following 6 numbers:
. q64�205, 5�7203,5647211, 5647212,5647_224,5647217.

Solution for Problem 13.6:

(a) The average is 6+8+12 4+15 = ¥ = 11.
t
(b) After increasing the number of pieces in each bag, the numbers of pieces in the bags are 29,
31, 35, 37,and 38. Now the average number of pieces per bag is 29+31+3 37+33 = 1�0 = 34. So,
:+
after Mary adds 23 pieces to each bag, the average is 23 higher. This isn't a coincidence. We
can see why with some clever arithmetic. Rather than computing the number of candies
in each bag after Mary adds 23 to each bag, we separate the additional candies in our
computation of the average:
(6+23)+ (8+23)+ (12+23)+ (14+23)+ (15 +23)
5
6+8+12+14+15- 23+23+23+23+23
= +
5 5
6+8+12+14+15 5 -23
= +
5 -5-
- 6+8+12+14+15
- +23.
5
t
Since 6+8+12 4+15 is the average before Mary adds candies, we see that the new average is
simply 23 more than the old average.
We can follow the same steps to see that if Mary adds the same number of candies to
each bag, then the average number of candies per bag increases by the amount she adds to
each bag.
Important: Suppose we have a list of numbers, and make a new list by adding
the same number, n, to each number in the original list. The
average of the numbers in the new list is the sum of n and the
average of the original list of numbers.
(c) We notice that the numbers only differ in their final two digits. Each number is 5647200
plus some two-digit number. Subtracting 5647200 from each number in the list gives
5,3,11,12,24,17.
The average of these is 5+3+11 +t24+17 = 12. We now use the fact we discovered in the
previous part. When we add 5647200 to each number in the list above, we recover the

484
 13.1. BASIC STATISTICS

original list in the problem. Adding 5647200 to each number in a list increases the average
of the list by 5647200. So, the desired average is 12 + 5647200 = 5647212.

□
Problem 13.7; The mear1ofa ,set of five different p9sitive. irlteg�rs iEl)5: )bi n{�wan is, 1�'­
What is the rri.axim1;1ffi possible vajue of the largest of the?e five 'in�egers?(S6iu:cfAM¢ 8)

Solution for Problem 13.7: Because there is an odd number of integers in the set, the middle
number is the median. So, one number in the set is 18. Since the mean of the five integers is 15,
the sum of the five numbers is 5 · 15, which equals 75. What's wrong with this solution:

Bogus Solution: We know [Link] one of the numbers is 18, which means the other
[Link] to 75-18 = Si We want one of the numbers to beas
�
farge'aspossible; but they must all be positiV�\ andJhey'mtist.
all be_di,fferent. So, we [Link] the smallest three nmnbers be l, 2,
irid,3. This leaves 57 -1 - 2 -3 = Si for lliE! largest,mlrrlper.

We see that our solution is incorrect when we list the integers in order from least to greatest:
1, 2, 3, 18, 51. The median of this list is 3, not 18.
We correct our mistake by remembering that the median must be in the middle. So, there
are two integers in the set greater than 18 and two less than 18. We want the largest integer to
be as large as possible, so we make the other three integers (besides the largest and 18) as small
as possible. We do this by letting the two less than 18 be 1 and 2, and letting one of the integers
greater than 18 be 19. This leaves

75 -1 - 2 - 18 -19 = 35

remaining for the largest possible integer. As a check, our list is 1, 2,18,19, 35, and we see that
this list has mean 15 and median 18, as required. □
The key to checking our answer was comparing our full solution, not just the final answer,
to all parts of the original problem.

WARNING!! Be thorough when checking your answer; make sure your full
••• solut1on fits with all parts of the problem.

Il txerdses ►

13.1.1 Compute the average, median, and mode of the following list of numbers:

34,13,37,24, 25,13,41, 23,28,31.

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CHAPTER 13. DATA AND STATISTICS

13.1.2 Jane averages 143 in her first six bowling games. Her scores in her next four games are
all the same. If her bowling average over the ten games is also 143, then what did she bowl in
each of the final four games?
13.1.3 In my science class, my teacher assigns each student a semester grade by finding the
median of that student's test scores. There are seven tests each semester. I have scored 55, 78,
63, and 91 on the first four tests. What is the highest possible semester grade I can earn?
13.1.4 In a list of positive integers, all have different values. Their sum is 350. Their average
is 50. One of the integers is 100. What is the greatest integer that can be in the list? (Source:
MOEMS)
13.1.5 What number should be removed from the list
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
so that the average of the remaining numbers is 6.1? (Source: AMC 8)
13.1.6 In a group of five children, the average child's weight was 72 pounds. When a sixth
child joined the group, the average child's weight became 73 pounds. What was the weight of
the sixth child? (Source: MOEMS)
13.1.7 In Theresa's first 8 basketball games, she scored 7, 4, 3, 6, 8, 3, 1 and 5 points. In her
ninth game, she scored fewer than 10 points and her points-per-game average for the nine
games was an integer. In her tenth game, she scored fewer than 10 points and her points-per­
game average for the ten games was an integer. What is the product of the number of points
she scored in the ninth and tenth games? (Source: AMC 8)
13.1.8 There is a set of five positive integers whose average (mean) is 5, whose median is 5,
and whose only mode is 8. What is the difference between the largest and smallest integers in
the set? (Source: AMC 8)
13.1.9*
(a) What is the average of the smallest 7 positive integers?
(b) What is the average of the smallest n positive integers if n is odd?
(c) What is the average of the smallest n positive integers if n is even?
(d) What is the average of the integers from 21 to 31, including 21 and 31?
(e) Jenny makes a list of all the integers from a to b, including a and b. Find a formula in terms
of a and b for the average of Jenny's numbers.

13.2 Limits of Basic Statistics

Now that we know how to compute average, median, and mode, we will think about what
sort of information they tell us. And, perhaps more importantly, we will think about what sort

486
 13.2. LIMITS OF BASIC STATISTICS

of information they don't tell us.

Il
Problem 13.8: You have to choose one of four people in your math club to be your partner
on a math assignment. You'd like to choose someone who is very good at math! Here are the
four students' scores on their previous seven assigl}Illents:

Anna: 94, 93, 90, 931 92,91,0

Bob: 98,94,33, 33,96,97,23
Carol: 89, 88, 86, 88, 87, 84, 85
Doug: 100, 14, 3, 100, 11,2,21

(a) Which student has the highest average score?

(b) Which student has the highest median score?
(c) Which student has the highest mode score?
( d) Which student would you choose as your partner?

Problem 13.9: The average wealth of a person in Richville is $150,000 and the average wealth
of a person in Poorville is $20,000.
(a) Suppose a person is called "filthy stinking rich"if the person has over one million dollars.
Can we tell which town has more filthy stinking rich people?
(b) Can we tell which town has the higher median wealth?
(c) If both towns have the same number of people, can we tell which town has the higher
total wealth?
(d) Suppose a person with $1,000,000 and 4 people who have $ 0 move into Richville. Will
the average wealth of Richville go up or down?

Problem 13.10: The median wealth of a person in Goldtown is $150,000 and the median
wealth of a person in Tintown is $20,000. Each town has 8000 people.
(a) Suppose a town qualifies for special government subsidies if each of at least half of its
residents has less than $ 60,000. Does either town necessarily qualify for the subsidies?
(b) Can we tell which town has the higher average wealth?
(c) Suppose a person with $1,000,000,000 and 4 people who have $ 0 move into Goldtown.
Will the median wealth of Goldtown go up or down?

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CHAPTER 13. DATA AND STATISTICS

Problem 13.8: You have to choose one of four people in your math club to be your partner
on a math assignment. You'd like to choose someone who is very good at math! Here are
the four students' scores on their previous seven assignments:

Anna: 94,93,90; 93,92,91,0

Bob: 98,·94,33, 33,96,97,23
- Car�l: 89;88,86,88,87,84,85
Doug: 100114,3,100,11,2,21

(a) Which student has the highest avenige score?

(b) Which student has the highest me_dian score?
(c) Which student has the highest mode score?
(d) Which student would you choose as your partner?

Solution for Problem 13.8:

(a) Here are the averages:
94 + 93 + 90 + 93 + 92 + 91 + 0 553
7 7
Anna's average= = = 79 I

98 + 94 + 33 + 33 + 96 + 97 + 23 474
Bob's average= = = 67�
7 7 7'
89 + 88 + 86 + 88 + 87 + 84 + 85 607 5
C arol's average=
7
=
7 = 867,
, 100 + 14 + 3 + 100 + 11 + 2 + 21 251 6
Doug s average= = = 35 .
7 7 7
Carol has the highest average.
(b) We find the students' median scores by putting each student's scores in order from least to
greatest:

Anna:0,90,91,92,93,93,94
Bob:23,33,33,94,96,97,98
Carol: 84,85, 86,87,88,88,89
Doug:2,3,11,14,21,100,100

For each student,the corresponding median is the middle number in the list. Each student's
median is underlined. Bob has the highest median.

488
 13.2. LIMITS OF BASIC STATISTICS

(c) The mode is the most frequent score. Each student has one repeated score, so we can
quickly find each student's mode score:

Anna: 93 Bob: 33 Carol: 88 Doug: 100

Doug has the highest mode.

(d) There's no clearly correct answer to this question. Carol has the highest average, Bob has
the highest median, and Doug has the highest mode. But you might be best off choosing
Anna!
Looking at all of the scores, it's pretty clear that you probably don't want to choose
Doug (the student with the highest mode). Most of the time he does very poorly. Mode is
usually not a very helpful statistic.
Even though Bob has the highest median, Bob appears to be considerably more likely
than Anna or Carol to do badly. So choosing Bob seems to bring a higher risk of a low
score.
Carol, with the highest average, appears to be more reliable than Anna, but Anna's single
bad score of O suggests that there may be some other explanation for her poor performance
on that assignment. Maybe she simply didn't tum it in.
If you can be sure that Anna will show up, then it looks like she has a good chance to do
better than Carol, because all of Anna's nonzero scores are higher than all of Carol's scores.
□
The key point of Problem 13.8 is that all of the basic statistics we have studied so far are
usually poor substitutes for considering all of the data. Of course, sometimes we don't have
all of the data available, or there is way too much data to consider all of it. As you study more
statistics in the future, you'll learn methods for analyzing large batches of data.
For now, we'll take a closer look at the limitations of the basic tools we have studied so far.
It's particularly imporfant to understand the strengths and weaknesses of average and median,
since these are the two statistics that people use (and misuse!) the most.
Problem 13.9: The average wealth of a person in Richville is $ 150,000 and the average
w�alth of a person in Poorville is $ 20,000.
(a) Suppose a person is called "filthy stinking rich" if the person has over one million
dollars. Can we tell which town has more filthy stinking rich people?
(b) Can we tell which town has the higher median wealth?
(c) If both towns have the same number of people, can we tell which town has the higher
total wealth?
(d) Suppose a person 'with $ 1,000,000 and 4 people who have $ 0 move into Richville. Will
the average wealth of Richville go up or down?

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CHAPTER 13. DATA AND STATISTICS

Solution for Problem 13.9:

(a) First notice that we aren't given any information about how many people are in each town.
WARNING!! Neither the average nor the median of a group of numbers tells
••t. us anything about how many numbers are in the group.
On the one hand, it's possible that everyone in Richville has exactly $150,000, so there
is no one in Richville who is filthy stinking rich. At the same time, Poorville might consist
of 100 people: one person with $2,000,000, who is definitely filthy stinking rich, and 99
people with no money at all. (Note that this does make the average wealth in Poorville
equal to $20,000, as required.) In this case, Poorville has more filthy stinking rich people.
On the other hand, it's possible that everyone in Poorville has exactly $20,000 (so that no
one is filthy stinking rich), while Richville consists of one filthy stir].king rich person with
$15,000,000 and 99 people who each have nothing. In this case, Richville has more filthy
stinking rich people.
So without any additional information, we can't tell which town has more filthy stinking
rich people.
(b) On the one hand, suppose the towns' populations are:

Richville Poorville
50 people with $150,000 each 1 person with $1,000,000
49 people with $0 each

The average and median wealth in Richville are each $150,000, whereas the average
wealth in Poorville is ($1,000,000)/50 = $20,000 and the median wealth in Poorville is $0.
In this case, Richville has a higher median wealth than Poorville.
On the other hand, suppose the towns' populations are:

Richville Poorville
1 person with $1,500,000 10 people with $20,000 each
9 people with $0 each

The average and median wealth in Poorville are each $20,000, whereas the average
wealth in Richville is ($1,500,000)/10 = $150,000 and the median wealth in Richville is $0.
In this case, Poorville has a higher median wealth than Richville.
So without any additional information, we can't tell which town has the higher median
wealth.
Important: We cannot determine anything about the median of a set of data
just by knowing the aver�ge of the data.
<:J7

490
 13.2. LIM ITS OF BASIC STATISTICS

(c) For each town, the average wealth equals the total wealth divided by the number of people.
So, the total wealth equals the product of the average wealth and the number of people.
If the two towns have the same number of people, then Richville must have the higher
total wealth. Specifically, if both towns have n people, then Richville has a total wealth of
$150,000n, and Poorville has a total wealth of $20,000n.
Note that this analysis only worked because we were told that the number of people in
each town are the same. If we weren't given this additional bit of information, we couldn't
tell which town had more total wealth. For example, if the population of Richville was
just 1 and the population of Poorville was 10, then the total wealth of Richville would be
$ 150,000 - 1 = $ 150,000 whereas the total wealth of Poorville would be $20,000 - 10 = $200,000.
In this example, the total wealth of Poorville would be greater.
Important: Without knowing the size of the data sets,we ca:rinbt coihpai-e the.
\!7 sums of the·datajusf'by comparing their averageic ·•

(d) The average wealth equals the total wealth divided by the number of people. In other
words, the average equals the amount each person would have if we divided the total
wealth equally among the people. The five people who move into Richville have a total
of $1,000,000. To keep the town average at $ 150,000 per person, these five new people
· only need a total of 5($ 150,000), which is $ 750,000. So, when these five new people come
to town, there's an extra $ 250,000 above the total amount needed for $ 150,000 per person.
This means that the average wealth in the town must go up when these five people arrive.

□
Problem 119 shows us some features and limitations of average. In particular, in our
examples in parts (a), (b), and (d), we see that it is possible for a single number to have
a huge effect on the average. For example, if an extremely rich person moves into your
neighborhood, the average wealth of your neighborhood will rise a lot! But the other people
in your neighborhood haven't gotten any richer, even though, judging by the average wealth
of the neighborhood/it looks like the neighborhood has become much richer.
[Link] 13.10: The median wealth of a person in Goldtown is $ 150,000 and the median
wealth of a person in Tintown is $ 20,000. Each town has 8000 people.
(a) Suppose a town qualifies for special government subsidies il each of at least half of its
residents has less than $ 60,000. Does either town necessarily qualify for the subsidies?
(b) Can we tell which town has·the higher average wealth?
(c) Suppose a person with $ 1,000,000,000 and 4 people who have $ 0 move into Goldtown.
· Will the median wealth of Goldtown go up or down?

Solution for Problem 13.10:

(a) Suppose we line up everyone in Tintown based on how much wealth they have. The

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CHAPTER 13. DATA AND STATIST ICS

population of Tintown is even, so the median wealth, $20,000, is the average wealth of
the two people in the middle. So, either the middle two people have $20,000 each, or the
poorer of the two has less than $20,000. Either way, each person in the poorer half of the
line has no greater than the median wealth, $20,000. Each of these people therefore has less
than $60,000, so Tintown qualifies for the subsidies.
Over in Goldtown, the median wealth is $150,000. If we line up Goldtown from poorest
to richest, then each person in the richer half of the line has at least $150,000. But all we
know about the people in the poorer half of the line is that each person has no more than
$150,000. It is possible for each person in the poorer half to have less than $60,000. For
example, suppose each person in the poorer half of Goldtown has $50,000 and each person
in the richer half of Goldtown has $250,000. Then, the median wealth of Goldtown is
$150,000, but Goldtown still qualifies for the subsidy.
(b) The median value only tells us how much the "middle" person has in each town, and
that half the people in town have at least this much. But the richest person in town could
have any amollI\t more than the median wealth. For example, it's possible that everyone
in Goldtown has exactly $150,000, while everyone in Tintown has $20,000 except for one
person who has tens of billions of dollars. In this case, Tintown could have much higher
total wealth, and therefore higher average wealth, than Goldtown.
Only the middle value (or middletwovafues) in a group ofnumbers
is used to compute the median. So, µicre�sing the values above the
rri:edian, or decreasingthe values bel6w the median, does not affect
the median.
(c) Suppose that, before the five new people arrive, we line up all the people in Goldtown
based on their wealth, with the richest first and the poorest last. Since there are 8000 people,
the median is the average wealth of the middle two people, who are the 4000th and 400l81
people in the line.
When the five new people arrive and find their places in the line, the four with $0 will
join the poorer end, and the person with $1,000,000,000 will be somewhere in the rich half
of the line. So, in this new line there will be 8005 people. The person who joined the rich
end causes the people who were previously 4000th and 400l81 to be shifted back by 1, to
400l81 and 4002nd in the line.
In this new line of 8005 people, the middle person is 4003rd in line. Most notably, this
person is behind, and therefore not richer than, the two people whose average gave us the
original median. That is, the new median cannot possibly be greater than the old median.
We can't actually say that the new median must be lower than the old median, since
we might have many people in the middle with the same wealth. So, it's possible that the
n�w median is the same as the old median, but the new median cannot be higher than the
old median.
The interesting observation here is that the new people brought a total of one billion
dollars to the town, but the median did not rise. That's because we added more poor

492
 13.2. LIMITS OF BASIC STATISTICS

people than rich people. Once again, we see that the actual values above and below the
median value do not affect the median. The median only tells us what the middle is.
□
Concept: Average and median only give us very limited information about
� a set of data. In particular, neither tell� us anything about the size
�
of the set, and median does not tell us anything about the total of
the data in the set. Neither average nor median tells us anything
about the other (that is, if we know the average, we don't know
anything about the median; and if we know the median, we don't
know anything about the average).
We say that a number in a group of numbers is an outlier if it is
very far from the other numbers in the group. Outliers can have a
significant effect on average, ·but have little effect on the median.
Sometimes, when analyzing data, people willremove outliers
from a group of numbers before computing the av�tage of the grollp.
For example, a teacher might do this by throwing out a student's
lowest exam grade before computing his or her average grade. .

txercises ►

13.2.1 The median height of the players on my basketball team is 6 feet, 4 inches. What is the
shortest that the tallest player on the team could possibly be?
13.2.2 The average wealth of a person in Richville is $150,000 and the average wealth of a
person in Poorville is $ 20,000. Suppose Richville and Poorville combine to form Mediumville.

(a) Is it possible that the average wealth in Mediumville is exactly $ 20,000?

(b) Suppose one person from Richville refuses to join Mediumville. Then, is it possible that
the average wealth of Mediumville is less than $20,000?
(c) If there were the same number of people in Poorville and Richville, then what is the average
wealth of Mediumville?
(d) If the average wealth of Mediumville is $120,000, then which city was larger, Richville or
Poorville?

13.2.3 Below are the average and median of test scores for Nick and Omar.
Nick: average 70, median 50
Omar: average 50, median 70
One of the students usually does OK, but when he does badly, he does very badly. The other
one usually doesn't do very well, but when he does well, he does extremely well. Which is
which?

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CHAPT ER 13. DATA AND STATISTICS

13.3 Tables, Graphs, and Charts

In the first two sections of this chapter, we discussed methods for using single numbers to
represent a collection of data. In this section, we explore a variety of ways to display data
rather than just showing a list of numbers.
Problems ►

Problem 13.11: The table below tells us the number of students in sixth, seventh, and eighth
grades at four middle schools. Each row corresponds to one of the middle schools. Three
columns correspond to the number of students in each grade for each school, and the last
column corresponds to the total number of students in each school.

Students in Middle School By Grade

6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade Total
East Middle School 213 241 217 671
West Middle School 135 142 120
North Middle School 230 130 534
South Middle School 341 339 1023

(a) Complete the table by filling in the missing entries.

(b) How many more eighth graders are there in South Middle School than in East Middle
. School?
(c) Which grade has the most students total (across all schools)?
(d} Which school has the highest average number of students per grade?
(ef Which school is most likely to need more seventh grade teachers next year?

P�oblem 13.12: We asked a group of Art of Problem 70

Solving students what they think about most during
history class. The results are shown in the bar chart at �"
60

the right. Describe each of the following statements

50 .

as true, false, or not necessarily true or false: ] 40

(a) More than three times as many students think !;

l
30

most about math as think most about history. 20

(b) More students think most about math than Wii 10

and Rubik's Cube put together.

(c) More than half the class thinks most about Face­
book.
(d) Most students spend more time thinking about
Wri than about Rubik's Cube.

494
 13.3. TABLES, GRAPHS, AND C H A RTS

Problem 13.13: There are tw o mat h t eams a t Beast Academy, Th e Li ttl e Monst ers a nd T he
Bots. At the en d of each day, eac h team graphs the total numb er of points it has earned .
Th e teams use line graphs to graph their totals . Below ar e last we ek 's graphs for Th e Li ttle
Monst ers and Th e Bots:

--------
Th e Little Monste rs ' points Th e Bots ' points
500 108
400 106
300 104
200 102
100 100

Su M Tu W Th F Sa Su M Tu W Th F Sa
Describe ea ch o f the followi ng as true, fals e, or n ot able t o be d etermined from the graphs .
(a) Th e Bots ha d fewe r points 'than Th e Li ttle Monst ers at the s tart of Monday, but more
points than The Li ttle Monsters at the end of Frida y.
.
'
(b) Th e Bots earned more poi nts t han The Li t tle Monst ers between th e start o f Monday an d
the en d of Fr iday.
(c) Th er e was a day on which Th e Bo ts didn 't ea rn a ny points.
(d) Th er e was aw eek day (not Saturday or Sunday) on which The Littl e Monst ers didn 't ea rn
any points.
(e) Th e Li ttle Monsters earned more than 24 p oints on Fri day.

Problem 13.14: The scores on a hist ory tes t ar e shown at the right 5 3 79
in a stem-and-leaf plot. Each s core in th e plot has its tens dig it to 6 2 6 6 8 8
th e left of the line and i ts units digit t o th e right ofthe lin e on th e 7 2 2 2 2 2 5 6 7 78 9
same row. So, the first row of th e plot inclu des the scores 5 3, 57, 8 0 0 1 2 5 5 6
and 59. 9 0 45 8
(a ) What is th e ave rage scor e?
(b ) What is th e median sc 2re?
(c) W hat is the modes core ?
(d ) Repres ent the data with a bar chart in w hich t her e is on e bar for each t ens digit . That is,
on e bar is a cou nt of all th e sc ores from 50 t o 59, anoth er bar is a count o f all th e scores
from 60 t o 69, etc .
(e) Can you us e your bar chart in part (d ) to answer qu es tions (a ) through (c )? Which
contains more information, your bar chart or th e st em-and -lea f plot ?

495
CHA PTER 13. DATA AND STATI STIC S

Problem 13.15: Members of the Gross Pie Association were Favorite Gross Pie Flavor
.as�ed for their favorite type of pie. The results of the poll are
shown in the pie chart at the right. Pie charts are typically cir­
·:cu1ar, and sliced into pieces that represent different categories.
The sizes of the pieces correspond to the portion of the whole
that each category represents. So, for example, the "Pickle" 6%
p iece is nearly half the chart, because nearly half the people
:chose pickle pie. If 36 of the members chose cat-hair pie, then
)low many chose sawdust pie?

In a table, we organize data in columns and rows. Usually, the columns correspond to one
type of information, and the rows correspond to another type of information. For example,
in the table in our first problem below, each row corresponds to a school and each column
corresponds to a grade level or levels. Each entry in the table then tells us how many students
are in the corresponding grade(s) at the corresponding school.
Problem 13.11: The table below tells us the number of students in sixth, seventh, and eighth
grades at four middle schools. Each row corresponds to one of the middle schools. Three
columns correspond to the number of students in each grade for each school, and the last
column corresponds to the total number of students in each school.

Students in Middle School By Grade

6tn Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade Total
East Middle School 213 241 217 671
West Middle School 135 142 120
North Middle School 230 130 534
South Middle School 341 339 1023

(a) Complete the table by filling in the missing entries.

(b) How many more eighth graders are there in South Middle School than in East Middle
School?
(c) Which grade has the most students total (across all schools)?
(d) Which school has the highest average number of students per grade?
(e) Which school is most likely to need more seventh grade teachers next year?

Solution for Problem 13.11:

(a) The missing entry for West Middle School is the total, which is
135 + 142 + 120 = 397.

496
 13.3. TABLES, GRAPHS, AN D CHARTS

The missing entry for North Middle School is the number of 8th graders. Subtracting the
numbers of 6th and 7th graders from the total gives us

534 - 230 - 130 = 174

eighth graders. Similarly, the number of � graders in South Middle School is

1023 - 341 - 339 = 343.

The completed table is shown below with the new numbers in bold:
Students in Middle School By Grade
6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade Total
East Middle School 213 241 217 671
West Middle School 135 142 120 397
North Middle School 230 130 174 534
South Middle School 341 343 339 1023
(b) South Middle School has 339 eighth graders, and East Middle School has 217 eighth graders,
so South Middle School has 339 - 217 = 122 more eighth graders.
(c) We sum each column to find the total number of students in each grade. We can include
the results in our table by adding another row:
Students in Middle School By Grade
6th Grade '? Grade 8th Grade Total
East Middle School 213 241 217 671
West Middle School 135 142 120 397
North Middle School 230 130 174 534
South Middle School 341 343 339 1023
Total 919 856 850 2625
The 6th grade has the most students.
(d) Since each school has the same number of grades, the school with the largest number of
students has the highest average number of students per grade. So, South Middle School
has the largest average number of students per grade. (South Middle School has 1023
students, so its average number of students per grade is 1023/3 = 341.)
(e) This year's 6th grade students will be next year's 7th grade students. So, to see if a school
needs more 7th grade teachers next year, we need to compare the number of 7th grade
students this year to the number of 6th grade students this year. East, West, and South
Middle Schools have fewer 6th graders than 7th graders, so they probably won't need more
"rh grade teachers next year. North Middle School has 100 more 6th graders than 7th graders.
Therefore, North Middle School is most likely to need more 7th grade teachers next year.
□

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CHAPTER 13. DATA AND STATISTICS

Problem 13.12: We asked a group of Art of Prob- 70

lem Solving students what they think about most 60
during history class. The results are shown in the E 50
bar chart at the right. Describe each of the following ]
statements as true, false, or not necessari1y true or
40
15
[fJ

false: " 30 ·

(a) More than three times as many students think 1z 20

most about math as think most about history. 10
(b) More students think [Link] about math than Wii
and Rubik's Cube put together.
(c) More than half the class thinks most about Face­
book.
(d) Most students spend more time thinking about
Wii than about Rubik's Cube.

Solution for Problem 13.12: The chart in this problem is called a bar chart, since it uses bars to
represent the data. (Bar charts are also sometimes called bar graphs.)

(a) The number of students who think most about history is a little more than 10. The bar for
history doesn't make it halfway between 10 and 20, so there are fewer than 15 students
who think most about history. Three times 15 is 45, and the bar for math goes a little higher
than 50. So, the number of students who think most about math is definitely more than
three times the number who think most about history; hence, the statement in the problem
is true.
(b) The number of students who think most about Wii is between 35 and 40, and the number
who think most about Rubik's Cube is between 25 and 30. So, the sum of these is at least
25 + 35 = 60. This total is definitely greater than the number of students who think most
about math; hence, the statement in the problem is false.
(c) More students think most about Facebook than think most about any of the other options.
However, the other options combined have a lot more students total than Facebook-in
particular, the sum of the students thinking most about just Math or Wii looks to be about
50 + 40 = 90, which is already definitely larger than the number of students thinking most
about Facebook. Thus, less than half the students think most about Facebook, and the
statement in the problem is false.
Sid�note: When considering a set of people divided into groups, we use the
word plurality to describe the group that consists of the most number
J'
of people. If the plurality consists of more than half the total number
of people, then we say that it is a majority of t;he people. So, the
students who think about Facebook the most in this problem are a
plurality of the students, but not a majority.

498
 13.3. TABLES, GRAPHS, AND CHAR TS

(d) The bar for Wii is higher than that for the Rubik's Cube, but that only tells us that more
students think about Wii most of all than think about Rubik's Cube most of all. We don't
know anything about the other students. They might think about Rubik's Cube a lot
without thinking about Wii at all. So, it's possible that most of the students spend more
time thinking about Rubik's Cube than thinking about Wii. Thus, we cannot determine
whether the statement in the problem is true or false.

Concept: Bar charts are useful for comparing several quantities to each other
� with a quick glance.

r:roblem 13.13: There are two math teams at Beast Academy, The Little Monsters and, The
Bots. At the end of each day, each team graphs the total number of points it has earned.
The teams use line graphs to graph their totals. Below are last week's graphs for The Little
Monsters and The Bots:

-----
The Little Monsters' points The Bots' points
500 108
400 106
300 104
200 102
100 100

Su M Tu W Th F Sa Su M Tu W Th F Sa
Describe each of the following as true, false, or not able to be determined from the graphs.
(a) The Bots had fewer points than The Little Monsters at the start of Monday, but more
points than The Little Monsters at the end of Friday.
(b) The Bots earned more points than The Little Monsters between the start of Monday and
the end of Friday.
(c) There was a day on which The Bots didn't earn any points.
(d) There was a weekday (not Saturday or Sunday) on which The Little Monsters didn't
earn any points.
(e) The Little Monsters earned more than 24 points on Friday.

Solution for Problem 13.13:

(a) It sure looks like The Bots were behind The Little Monsters at the start of Monday, but way
ahead of The Little Monsters at the end of Friday. But take a close look at the numbers
on the graphs. The numbers on The Little Monsters' graph range from 100 to 500. The
numbers on The Bots' graph also start at 100, but only go up 2 each time, to 108 at the
largest. The Little Monsters' graph shows that their score was around 300 the whole week,

499
CHAPTER 1 3. DATA AND STATISTICS

while The Bots' score was always below 108. So, The Bots did start the week behind The
Little Monsters, but The Bots were still far behind at the end of the week-the statement in
the problem is false.
We sometimes use the term scale to refer to the numbers used along an axis of a graph
or chart. The scales in the two graphs are very different.
(b) It looks like The Bots' score skyrocketed from Monday to Friday, while The Little Monsters'
score only went up a tiny bit. But again, the scales of the two graphs are misleading. The
Bots' score went from 99 points to 107 points, a gain of 8 points. It's hard to tell exactly how
much The Little Monsters' score changed over the week, but it appears that they started
close to 300 points and ended about a quarter of the way from 300 to 400. So, The Little
Monsters probably earned around 25 points or so, total, which means The Little Monsters
earned more points between Monday and Friday than The Bots. Thus, the statement in the
problem is false. (The Bots probably chose the scale of their graph to make it look like they
earned a ton of points!)
WARNING!! Pay attention to- the scales of graphs, particularly when two
different quantities are being compared with graphs. Graphs
can be made very misleading by strategically choosing the scale.
(c) The Bots ended Tuesday and Wednesday with the same number of points, so they didn't
earn any points on Wednesday. The statement in the problem is true.
(d) It's very hard to tell from the graph whether or not The Little Monsters' total increased on
Wednesday. So, we can't tell for sure from the graph whether or not The Little Monsters
had a day on which they earned no points.
(e) The Little Monsters' graph goes upward from Thursday to Friday, but it's impossible to
tell from the graph by exactly how much. So we can't tell if the statement in the problem
is true or false. If The Little Monsters had chosen a different scale for their graph, then it
might be easier to answer questions about their exact scores.
□
The graphs in Problem 13.13 -are called line graphs. Line graphs are frequently used to
show how a quantity changes over time.
While the first two parts of Problem 13.13 show us how the scale of a graph can be used to
mislead or confuse, the last three parts show us that the choice of scale of a graph can determine
how accurately we can read the graph.

Concept: When creating a graph or chart, use a scale that makes clear the
� information you wish to convey.

For example, if The Little Monsters wanted to make more clear how many points they
earned during the week, they might have chosen the scale in the graph at the right below.

500
 13.3. TA BLES, GRAPHS, AND C HA RTS

The Little Monsters' points The Little Monsters' points

500 355
400 340
300 ------ 325
200 310
100 295

Su M Tu W Th F Sa Su M Tu W Th F Sa

The same point totals were used to make these two graphs, but the graphs look very
different! With the graph on the right, we can determine that there isn't a day on which The
Little Monsters failed to score any points (so part (d) above is false). However, we still can't
determine whether or not The Little Monsters earned more than 24 points on Friday, so we still
can't decide whether statement (e) is true or false.
ProblE:m 13.14: The scores on a historytestare showrt at the right 5 ,3 7 9,
in a stem.:imd-leaf plot. Each score in the plot has its tens digit to , 6 . 2 6 6 8 8
the left of the line and its units digitto the rightof the line on-the 7 2 2 2 2 2 5 6 7 7 8 9
same row. So, the first row of the plot includes the scores 53, 57, 8 0 0 1 2 5 5 6
and 59. 9 0458
(a) Whc1t is the average score?
(b) What is the median score?
,
(c) What is the mode scor�?
__

(d) , Represent the data with a bar chart in;which there is one bar for eachtens digit. Thatis,
one bar is a count of all the scores from 50 to 59, another bar is a count ofall the scores
from 60 to 69, etc.
(e) Can you use your bar chart in part (d) to answer questions (a) through (c)? Which
contains more information, your bar chart or the stem-and-leaf plot?

Solution for Problem 13.14:

(a) To find the average, we have to sum all of the scores and divide by the total number
of scores. To count the scores, we simply count the digits that are to the right of the
vertical line. There are 30 such numbers. To sum the numbers, we could write out all
30 numbers and add them, but that would take quite a bit of time. We can take a slight
shortcut by adding each row. The first row has three numbers with 5 as the tens digit,
and the digits to the right of the line are the units digits. So, the sum of the numbers in
that row is 3(50) + 3 + 7 + 9 = 169. Similarly, the sum of the numbers in the next row is
5(60) + 2 + 6 + 6 + 8 + 8 = 330. The sum of the numbers in the 70s row is 822, the sum of the
80s row is 579, and the sum of the 90s row is 377. So, the sum of all of the numbers is
169 + 330 + 822 + 579 + 377 = 2277,
and the average of the numbers is 2277 /30 = 75.9.

501
CHAPTER 13. DATA AND STATISTICS

(b) The numbers are essentially in order, with the numbers in each row going from least to
greatest, and the numbers in each row all less than those in any lower row on the chart. So,
we can easily scan through the list to find the middle number. There are thirty numbers
total, so (since 30 is even) we must find the middle two numbers to compute the median,
and the middle two are the 15th and 16th scores. There are 3 scores on the first row and 5 on
the second, for a total of 8 scores less than 70. We therefore want the seventh and eighth
scores in the 70s row, which are 76 and 77. The median is the average of these, which is
76.5.
(c) The'mode is the score that occurs most. The string of 2s in the 70s row is easy to spot for
the most common score, so 72 is the mode.
(d) The bar chart is shown at the right. The chart displays counts
of how many times each of the options occurs. Such a chart is sos
sometimes called a histogram. Notice that it is very similar to the 60s
stem-and-leaf plot. (We drew the bars horizontally rather than 70s
vertically in part to highlight this resemblance.) The lengths of
sos
the bars in the bar chart correspond to the lengths of the rows
in the stem-and�leaf plot. This feature of stem-and-leaf plots 9os
allows them to be used in much the same manner as bar charts.
For example, we can tell at a glance that many more students 2 4 6 8 10 12

scored in the 70s than in the 90s. Number of Scores

(e) We can't use the bar chart from part (d) to answer the questions in the first three parts. The
stem-and-leaf plot allows us to keep all the values in the original data, while the grouping
we did for the bar chart loses all the exact scores. The bar chart tells us what 10-point range
each score is in, but doesn't tell us exactly what the scores are. This can give us a sense for
the median and the average, but cannot tell us exactly what they are.
□
Problem 13.15: Members of the Gross Pie Association were Favorite Gross Pie Flavor
asked for their favorite type of pie. The results of the poll are
shown in the pie chart at the right. Pie charts are typically
circular, and sliced into pieces that represent different cate­
gpries. The sizes of the pieces correspond to the portion of
the whole that each category represents. So, for example, the
"Pickle" piece is nearly half the chart, because nearly half the
pe9ple chose pickle pie. If 36 of the members chose cat-hair
pie, then how many chose sawdust pie?

Solution for ,Problem 13.15: Solution 1: Figure out how many members total there are. Let x be the
number of members in the club. The pie chart tells us that 8% of the people chose cat-hair pie.

502
 1 3.3. TABLES, GRAPHS, AND CHARTS

Since 36 people chose cat-hair pie, and these people are 8% of the total, we must have
0.08x = 36.
Dividing both sides by 0.08 gives
� 3600
= = = 450.
X 0.08 8
The pie chart tells us that 26% of the people chose sawdust pie. Since there are 450 people
total, the number of people who chose sawdust pie is 0.26 · 450 = 117.
Solution 2: Compare cat-hair pie and sawdust pie directly. Since 26% of the people chose sawdust
pie and 8% of the people chose cat-hair pie, we have the ratio
number who chose sawdust : number who chose cat-hair = 26 : 8.
Let s be the number of people who chose sawdust pie. Since 36 people chose cat-hair pie, the
ratio above tells us
s : 36 = 26 : 8.
Writing the ratios as fractions gives
s 26
=.
36 8
Simplifying the fraction on the right side gives � = ¥. Multiplying by 36 gives
13 36
s= · 36 = 13 · = 13 · 9 = 117
4 4
Solution 3: Use number sense. We know that 36 people are 8% of the total. Dividing by 4, we
see that 9 people are 2% of the total. Since 26% = 13 · 2%, we multiply these 9 people by 13 to
see that 26% of the total equals 9 · 13 = 117 people. □

Pie charts are particularly good for displaying the portion 225

of the total that each quantity is. Bar charts, on the other hand, ::i i��
are not as good at showing this information. To compare our · � 150
pie chart to a bar chart, let's make a bar chart for the totals � ���
in Problem 13.15. We already know that 36 people chose cat-
hair and 117 chose sawdust. We can use the first method in z �
1
75

our solution above to compute the totals for the other favorite
pie options. We find that 0.48(450) = 216 people chose pickle,
0.06(450) = 27 chose gasoline, and 0.12(450) = 54 chose lint.
These are shown in the bar chart on the right.
Both the bar chart and the original pie chart allow us to compare different options quickly.
For example, we can quickly see that pickle is the winner, and about the same number of people
chose gasoline as chose cat-hair. But the pie chart allows us to see more quickly what portion
of the total chose each option. For example, it's very easy to see on the pie chart that around a
quarter of the people chose sawdust pie. This isn't as clear in the bar chart.

503
CHAPTER 1 3. DATA AND STATISTICS

The bar chart does have the advantage of allowing us to Favorite Gross Pie Flavor
see the number of people who chose each option. The actual
number of people is not reflected in the original pie chart. We
could include this information on the pie chart if we like, as
shown at the right. The sizes of the pieces in the pie chart still Gasoline
give us a sense of what portion of the whole each option is. 27

Concept: · ' A pie' cl\a:rt 1s often a good choice to repres�nf d�ta if the "portions
� of the whole" of \Tarious otitcoines is the most impoi-tq11t feature of
the �ata.

13.3.1 The histogram on the right shows the results when the .... [/'j

students in my grade were asked how many pencils they have. 5 15

'"d
(a) What is the mode number of pencils? C/l 1 Q
(b) Compute the average number of pencils to the nearest hun- �

l
dredth. OJ 5

(c) What is the median number of pencils?

0 2 4 6
Number of Pencils

13.3.2 Each man in the Not Much Left club counts the number of hairs 0 1 13 5 6 8
remaining on his head. They represent their results with the stem-and-leaf 1 02224
plot shown on the right. 2 39
(a) Find the average, median, and mode of the number of hairs each member 4 05
has, based on the data in the table shown. 5 68
7 5 69
(b) If I, with my very full head of hair, join the club, which statistic will be
affected the most: average, median, or mode?
(c)* Upon checking the table a second time, the club finds that one digit in the stem-and-leaf
table is incorrect. When the number is fixed, the average number of hairs on each head is
correctly computed as 26.75. Which number in the table is incorrect, and what should it
have been?

504
 13.4. SUMMARY

i
13.3.3 I have a pet griffin named Spot. Every year on 100
oo -l__: L ·- . .. -.
i �' -
Spot's birthday, I measure her height and graph it on 80 - ·
my wall. Today is Spot's eighth birthday, and the graph
. . - � ·- r �L- . - -,
60 -

1
on the right is a copy of the graph on my wall.
>-I

(a) During which year did Spot grow the most? 40 _+---+--+--rl
·QJ 20 ;----1----;---,.---
-------=�:
(b) After a griffin becomes an adult, she grows very ::C
-c----o

slowly. At what age did Spot become an adult? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Birthday
(c) On average, how many inches per year has Spot grown?

13.3.4 The 650 cartoon characters in Toontown voted for Toontown Election Results
President, and the results are shown at the right.
(a) By how many votes did Bart beat Bugs Bunny?
(b) Upon finding out that being President requires work,
Bart quit, so they held a new election. Only the
characters who originally voted for Bart voted for
a different candidate in the new election. None of
these characters voted for Mickey Mouse or for Bugs Mickey Mouse
Bunny. Altogether, Wile E. Coyote received three 8%
times as many votes in the new election as Sponge-
Bob did. Draw a pie chart for the new election.

13.4 Summary
We studied three statistics, which are numbers used to give information about groups of
numbers:

• Average: The average of a group of numbers is the sum of the numbers divided by the
number of numbers. So, the average of 3, 5, 6, and 10 is 3+5+t10, which equals 6. The
average is also called the mean or the arithmetic mean.

• Median: If we list a group of numbers from least to greatest, the median of the group is
the number in the middle. So, the median of the numbers in the list

4, 5, 7,8,11

is 7. If there is an even number of numbers, then the median is the average of the middle
two numbers.

505
CHAPTER 13. DATA AND STATISTICS

• Mode: The mode of a group of numbers is the number that appears most frequently in
the group. So, the mode of
3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
is 3. A group can have multiple modes if there are multiple numbers that appear the
same number of times.

Average and median are used much more often than mode. There are significant limitations
on what these statistics can tell us about a group of data. The median only tells us what the
middle number is (or the average of the middle two numbers). It doesn't tell us anything about
how far the numbers in the group are from the middle. Numbers that are much greater or
much less than most of the other numbers in a group are called outliers. Outliers tend to have
a very large effect on the average of the group, but very little effect on the median.
There are many ways to display data, such as tables (page 496), ba�icharts (page 498), line
graphs (page 499), stem-and-leaf plots (page 501), and pie charts (page 502).

I .
REVI EW PROBLEMS ►

13.16 I have four dogs whose average weight is 63 pounds. I also have three cats. The average
weight of all seven of my animals is 41 pounds. What is the average weight of my cats?
13.17 The average age of the ten people on my basketball team was 13.5, but then a 15-year-old
joined our team and an 11-year-old quit the team. What is the average age of my team now?
13.18 The average of five numbers is 18. Let the first number be increased by 1, the second
number by 2, the third number by 3, the fourth number by 4, and the fifth number by 5. What
is the average of the list of increased numbers? (Source: MOEMS)
13.19 Suppose you took eight math tests this semester. If your average score on your first six
tests was 84 and your average score on all eight tests was 86, then what was the average of
your last two test scores?
13.20 Must the median of a group of consecutive integers equal the average of the group?
13.21 Larry writes a list of numbers that has average 14, median 21 and mode 11.

(a} Moe creates a list by adding 12 to each number in Larry's list. What are the average,
median, and mode of Moe's list?
(b) Curly creates a list by multiplying each number in Larry's list by 2. What are the average,
median, and mode of Curly's list?

13.22 Find the average of the following numbers:

940385988, 940385994, 940386003, 940385981, 940385991.

506
 REVI EW PROBLEMS

13.23 Each of 9 friends chooses her favorite positive integer.

(a) The median of the chosen numbers is 91. W hat is the smallest the average of the 9 chosen
numbers could be?
(b) The median of the chosen numbers is 91. Is there a limit to how large the average of the
chosen numbers can be? If so, what is the largest the average can be?
(c) The average of the chosen numbers is 91. What is the smallest the median of the 9 chosen
numbers could be?
(d)* The average of the chosen numbers is 91. What is the largest the median of the chosen
numbers could be? Hints: 139

13.24 Consider the two lists of numbers below.

List A:34, 54, 161, 443, 87, 43, 76, 339, 38, 654, 75, 164, 876
List B: 56747884, 54, 65, 12, 654, 765, l2, 34, 98, 56, 72, 34, 86

(a) Is it easy to tell quickly which list has the higher average?
(b) Is it easy to tell quickly which list has the higher median?
(c) What do the first two parts tell us about outliers?

-;;;t-=-=--=---=--=--::::::;-;
��I I 1 1 11
13.25 The chart at the right shows where Meadow Where Do You Do Your Homework?
Lark Lane Middle School students do their homework. 40 � = == = =
The options are their bedroom (BR), the kitchen (K), 1-1
the dining room (D), and the family living room (FLR).
Using these data, how many of the 880 students at the
school do their homework in the dining room? (Source:
BR K D FLR
MATHCOUNTS)
13.26 Five people live along a long, straight road. The table below gives the distance in miles
between pairs of houses. For example, the distance between Adrian's house and Walter's house
is 11 miles.
Adrian Dan Laurie Jon Walter
Adrian 0 15 11
Dan 3 0 12 7 8
Laurie 15 5
Jon 10 7 5 0
Walter 11 8 4
(a) Fill in the missing entries.
(b) Which two people live the farthest apart? W hich two people live the closest?
(c) Draw an accurate map showing where the people live along the road.

507
 CHAPTER 13. DATA AND STATISTICS

IJJ . [Link] PrQbl�ms ►

13.27 There is a list of seven numbers. The average of the first four numbers is 5, and the
average of the last four numbers is 8. If the average of all seven numbers is 6�, then what
number is common to both sets of four numbers? (Source: AMC 8) Hints: 139
13.28 The mean, median, and mode of the five numbers 5, 7, 8, A, B are equal. (The list has a
single mode.) Find all possible values of A + B.

13.29 The Back In My Day club made the histogram at right to

represent the ages of its members.

(a) What is the least possible median age of the members?

(b) What is the greatest possible median age?
(c) What is the least possible average age?
(d) What is the greatest possible average age?
50s 60s 70s 80s 90s

13.30
(a) Two lists of numbers that have the same average are combined to form a longer list. Must
the average of the new list be the same as the average of each of the original shorter lists?
(b) Two lists of numbers that have the same median are combined to form a longer list. Must
the median of the new list be the same as the median of each of the original shorter lists?
(c) Two lists of numbers that have the same mode are combined to form a longer list. Is the
mode of the new list necessarily the same as the mode of each of the original shorter lists?
(d) Two lists of numbers are combined to form a longer list. The mode of the new list is 3. Is
it possible that neither of the original lists had 3 as its mode?
. . 13.31 My four closest friends have weekly allowances of $13, $17, $ 24, and $30. What are the
possible values of my weekly allowance if the median of our allowances equals the average of
our allowances?
13.32 We asked 124 people to rank four card games from pt
2nd 3rd 4th
favorite (151) to least favorite (4th). The results are shown Magic 34 56 23 11
in the table at the right. Two of the entries in the table are Pokemon 12 14 38 64
wrong. Fix the errors by changing two of the numbers in SET 57 41 23 3
the table. Yu-Gi-Oh! 21 19 44 46
13.33* For a set of ten numbers, removing the largest number decreases the average by 1.
Removing the smallest number increases the average by 2. What is the positive difference
between the largest and the smallest of these ten numbers? Hints: 54, 52

508