Measures of Relative Position

Statistics

GEC 14
Mathematics in the Modern World

Department of Mathematics
College of Science
Bicol University

Lecture 7: Measures of Relative Position

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Measures of Relative Position

X Measures of Central Tendency

• Mean
• Median
• Mode

X Measures of Dispersion
• Range
• Standard Deviation
• Variance

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Measures of Relative Position

Measures of Relative Position

X z-Score
X Percentiles
X Quartiles

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Measures of Relative Position

Mean and Standard Deviation

Recall that
µ: mean of a population
x̄ : mean of a sample
σ : standard deviation of a population
s : standard deviation of a sample
rP sP
(x − µ)2 (x − x̄)2
σ= and s=
n n−1

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Measures of Relative Position

z-Score

The number of standard deviations between a data value and

the mean is known as the data value’s z-score or
standard score.

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Measures of Relative Position

z-Score

The z-score for a given data value x is the number

of standard deviations that x is above or below the
mean of the data.
x −µ x − x̄
Population: zx = Sample: zx =
σ s
Note that µ and σ are the respective mean and standard
deviation of a population, while x̄ and s are the mean and
standard deviation of a sample, respectively.
data value − mean
z-score =
standard deviation
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Measures of Relative Position

z-Score

With data value x = 20,

20 − 12 8
z20 = = = 2.
4 4

With data value x = 6,

6 − 12 −6
z6 = = = −1.5.
4 4

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Measures of Relative Position

Example 1

Zayin has taken two tests in her MMW class. She scored 72
on the first test, for which the mean of all scores was 65 and
the standard deviation was 8. She received a 60 on a second
test, for which the mean of all scores was 45 and the standard
deviation was 12. In comparison to the other students, did
Zayin do better on the first test or the second test?

Solution:
Find the z-score for each test using the following formula.
data value − mean
z-score =
standard deviation

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Measures of Relative Position

Example 1

72 − 65 60 − 45
z72 = = 0.875 z60 = = 1.25
8 12

Zayin scored 0.875 standard deviation above the mean on the

first test and 1.25 standard deviation above the mean on the
second test. The z-scores indicate that, in comparison to her
classmates, Zayin scored better on the second test than she
did on the first test.

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Measures of Relative Position

Example 2

A consumer group tested a sample of 100 light bulbs. It

found that the mean life expectancy of the bulbs was 842 h,
with a standard deviation of 90. One particular light bulb
from the DuraBright Company has a z-score of 1.2. What
was the life span of this light bulb?
Solution:
Note that we are given with x̄ = 842, s = 90, and zx = 1.2.
Here, we want to find the life span of this particular light bulb
with z-score equal to 1.2 which is the data value x in our
formula for z-score.

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Measures of Relative Position

Example 2
Substituting the given values into the z-score equation and
solving for x, we obtain
x − x̄
zx =
s
x − 842
1.2 =
 90 
x − 842
1.2(90) = (90)
90
108 = x − 842
950 = x.

The light bulb had a life span of 950 h .

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Measures of Relative Position

Measures of Relative Position

X z-Score
- number of standard deviations between a data value
and the mean

X Percentiles
X Quartiles

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Measures of Relative Position

Percentiles

A value x is called the pth percentile of a data set provided

p% of the data values are less than x.

Given a set of data and a data value x,

number of data values less than x
Percentile of score x = · 100
total number of data values

Note:
We are dealing with ranked data in getting the percentiles.

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Measures of Relative Position

Example 3

On a reading examination given to 900 students, Elaine’s score of

602 was higher than the scores of 576 of the students who took
the examination. What is the percentile for Elaine’s score?

Solution:
number of data values less than 602
Percentile = · 100
total number of data values
576
= · 100
900
= 64

Elaine’s score of 602 places her at the 64th percentile.

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Measures of Relative Position

Example 4

In a recent year, the median annual salary for a physical

therapist was $74,480. If the 90th percentile for the annual
salary of a physical therapist was $105,900, find the percent
of physical therapists whose annual salary was
a. more than $74,480.
Solution:
By definition, the median is the 50th percentile.
Therefore, 50% of the physical therapists earned more
than $74,480 per year.

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Measures of Relative Position

Example 4

b. less than $105,900.

Solution:
Because $105,900 is the 90th percentile, 90% of all
physical therapists made less than $105,900.

c. between $74,480 and $105,900.

Solution:
From parts a and b, 90% − 50% = 40% of the physical
therapist earned between $74,480 and $105,900.

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Measures of Relative Position

Example 5

On a reading test, Shaylen’s score of 455 was higher than the

scores of 4,256 of the 7,210 students who took the test. Find
the percentile, rounded to the nearest percent, for Shaylen’s
score.
Solution:
number of data values less than 455
Percentile = · 100
total number of data values
4, 256
= · 100
7, 210
≈ 59

Shaylen’s score of 455 places her at 59th percentile.

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Measures of Relative Position

Measures of Relative Position

X z-Score
- number of standard deviations between a data value
and the mean

X Percentiles
- x is the pth percentile of a data set provided p% of
the data values are less than x

X Quartiles

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Measures of Relative Position

Quartiles
The three numbers Q1 , Q2 , and Q3 that partition a ranked
data set into four (approximately) equal groups are called the
quartiles of the data.

• Q1 - first quartile
• Q2 - second quartile
• Q3 - third quartile
=⇒ form four subgroups of a dataset
Example:

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Measures of Relative Position

The Median Procedure for Finding Quartiles

1. Rank the data.

2. Find the median of the data.
This is the second quartile, Q2 .
3. The first quartile, Q1 , is the median of the data
values less than Q2 . The third quartile, Q3 , is
the meadian of the data values greater than Q2 .

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Measures of Relative Position

Example 6
The following table lists the calories per 100 milliliters of 25
popular sodas. Find the quartiles for the data.

Solution:
Step 1: Rank the data as shown in the following table.

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Measures of Relative Position

Example 6
Step 2: The median of these 25 data values has a rank of 13.
Thus, the median is 43. The second quartile Q2 is the median of
the data, so Q2 = 43.

Step 3: There are 12 data values less than the median and 12
data values greater than the median. The first quartile is the
median of the data values less than the median. Thus, Q1 is the
median of the data values with ranks 6 and 7.
39 + 39
Q1 = = 39
2
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Measures of Relative Position

Example 6

The third quartile is the median of the data values greater than
the median. Thus, Q3 is the mean of the data values with ranks
of 19 and 20.
50 + 53
Q3 = = 51.5
2

Therefore, Q1 = 39, Q2 = 43, and Q3 = 51.5.

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Measures of Relative Position

Measures of Relative Position

X z-Score
- number of standard deviations between a data value
and the mean

X Percentiles
- x is the pth percentile of a data set provided p% of
the data values are less than x

X Quartiles
- partition a ranked data set into four (approximately)
equal groups

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Measures of Relative Position

Exercises

1) A data set has a mean x̄ = 212 and a standard deviation of

40. Find the z-score for each of the following.
a. 200 b. 224 c. 300 d. 100

2) A data set has a mean x̄ = 75 and a standard deviation of

11.5. Find the z-score for each of the following.
a. 85 b. 95 c. 50 d. 75

3) A data set has a mean x̄ = 6.8 and a standard deviation of

1.9. Find the z-score for each of the following.
a. 6.2 b. 7.2 c. 9.0 d. 5.0

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Measures of Relative Position

Exercises

4) Kevin scored at the 65th percentile on a test given to 9840

students. How many students scored lower than Kevin?

5) On a placement examination, Jam scored lower than 1,210 of

the 12,860 students who took the exam. Find the percentile,
rounded to the nearest percent, for Jam’s score.

6) What can you say about the relationship between percentiles

and quartiles?

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Measures of Relative Position

Exercises
7) The following table shows the number of prescriptions a
doctor wrote each day for 36-day period. Use the median
procedure for finding quartiles to find the first, second, and
third quartiles for the data.

Reference:
Aufmann et al. (2018). Mathematics in the Modern World (Philippine Ed).
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Measures of Relative Position

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