Representing and

14 interpreting data
LEARNING SEQUENCE
14.1 Overview ...............................................................................................................................................................756
14.2 Collecting and classifying data .................................................................................................................... 759
14.3 Displaying data in tables ................................................................................................................................ 766
14.4 Measures of centre and spread ...................................................................................................................772
14.5 Column graphs and dot plots ...................................................................................................................... 783
14.6 Stem-and-leaf plots ......................................................................................................................................... 789
14.7 Pie charts and divided bar graphs (extending) ...................................................................................... 795
14.8 Comparing data ................................................................................................................................................. 806
14.9 Review ................................................................................................................................................................... 812
14.1 Overview
Why learn this?
Every day we see graphs, charts and statistics in the media. These
graphs, charts and statistics all serve to condense massive amounts of
information into a few simple numerical facts. This is the beauty of
statistics. It turns complicated data into simpler forms that, with the
knowledge gained throughout this topic, you will be able to interpret
and understand.
You may have seen graphs or charts of housing prices in the news or
online. One house price report stated that in September 2020 the median
house price was $1 154 406 in Sydney, $875 980 in Melbourne and
$596 316 in Brisbane. What is the median house price? Why are house
prices discussed in terms of the median and not the mean? This topic
will help you to understand the answers to these questions, and apply
your understanding to other contexts.
In every business it is vital to keep a close eye on finances. Statistics can
be used to determine the economic health of a business by looking at
changes in revenue, costs, customer satisfaction, market share and many
other factors over time. Line graphs are often used to show changes over
time, and pie charts are often used to display market share or customer
satisfaction.
Data is also extremely important in the medical field. Statistics are used to collate data from around the world to
better understand the rates of disease, effectiveness of different medicines or treatments, and many other things.
In 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, graphs and charts started appearing in the news and on
social media displaying the case numbers for different states and countries. The data collected by each state and
country was displayed graphically, enabling residents to be informed and educated on the latest developments.

Where to get help

Go to your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au to access the following digital resources. The Online
Resources Summary at the end of this topic provides a full list of what’s available to help you learn the
concepts covered in this topic.

Fully worked
Video Interactivities solutions
eLessons
to every
question

Digital
eWorkbook
documents

756 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

Exercise 14.1 Pre-test

Complete this pre-test in your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au and receive automatic marks,
immediate corrective feedback and fully worked solutions.
1. MC Select the data category that suits the number of players in a netball team.
A. Categorical and discrete B. Numerical and discrete
C. Numerical and continuous D. Categorical and continuous
E. Categorical and numerical

2. MC Select the data category that suits the amount of rainfall.

A. Numerical and continuous B. Categorical and discrete
C. Numerical and discrete D. Categorical and continuous
E. Numerical and categorical

Use the following information to answer questions 3 and 4.

The following frequency table represents the heights of 20 students in a Mathematics class.

Height group (cm) Frequency

120–129 2
130–139 8
140–149 7
150–159

3. Determine the number of students in the 150–159 cm group.

4. MC Choose the most common height group in the class.

A. 120–129 cm B. 130–139 cm C. 140–149 cm
D. 150–159 cm E. 160–169 cm

5. A book store sold the following number of books each day

for the last week. Calculate the daily average number of
books sold.
Book sales: 23, 34, 18, 28, 36, 45, 33

6. Calculate the median of the following data set.

3, 3, 7, 8, 9, 9, 9, 11, 12, 13, 13, 17, 18, 21

7. Buddy kicks a ball 7 times. His kicks are 49, 52, 57, 43,
55, 62 and 59 metres in distance. Calculate the range of
Buddy’s 7 kicks.

8. The following data represents the sizes of Nike runners sold over a week. State the most common
shoe size.
Nike shoe sizes: 7, 7, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11, 12, 12

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 757

 9. The following graph shows the preferred sports of a group of students.
Sport preferences
Basketball
14
Baseball

Number of boys
12
10 Swimming
8
6
4
2

To the nearest per cent, determine the percentage of students who preferred swimming.

10. Determine the median value in the following dot plot.

2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.0 3.1

11. The following stem-and-leaf plot represents the ages of a group of golfers. Determine the number of
golfers that are older than 20 years of age.
Key: 2|4 = 24
Stem Leaf
1 78899
2 2479
3 1338
4 022266
5 57
6 4

12. The following back-to-back stem-and-leaf plot shows the heights of Year 7 students. Determine the
difference between the height of the tallest boy and the shortest girl.
Key: 13|7 = 137 cm
Leaf (boys) Stem Leaf (girls)
98 13 78
98876 14 356
988 15 1237
7665 16 356
876 17 1

Toyota = 34, Ford = 28, Holden = 30, Mazda = 18

13. A survey asked people for their favourite brand of car. The following results were found:

If a sector graph was constructed using these results, determine the angle used for Toyota. Give your
answer to the nearest degree.

758 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 14. The data presented in a divided bar graph shows the preferred Australian holiday destinations.

Preferred holiday destination Sunshine Coast

Sydney
45 18 75 12 Uluru
Canberra

a. Based on this graph, calculate the number of people who were interviewed about their favourite
Australian holiday destination.
b. Identify the number of people who preferred the Sunshine Coast.
c. Calculate the percentage of the total number of people who preferred Canberra.
d. Calculate the percentage of the total number of people who preferred Uluru.

15. The following sector graph is based on the way students travel to school. Determine the percentage, to
the nearest whole per cent, of students who get to school by bus.

Method of transport to school

17

25 Bus
85
Walk
42
Tram

Train

45 Bike
78
Car

Combination

64

14.2 Collecting and classifying data

LEARNING INTENTION
At the end of this subtopic you should be able to:
• describe types of data using the key words ‘categorical’ (discrete) or ‘numerical’ (continuous)
• understand the difference between primary and secondary data
• explain why some data is more reliable that other data.

14.2.1 How to classify data

eles-4716
• Statistics is the study of collecting, organising, presenting, analysing and interpreting data.
• Data is information that is collected about a certain group.
• A variable is a particular characteristic that can be observed, counted or measured, such as eye colour or
height. A variable can change over time or between individual observations.
• Data can be classified as categorical data or numerical data.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 759

Categorical data
• Categorical data provides information about variables that can be grouped into categories.
• Take, for example, recycling bins. The different categories for recycling can include organic, paper, plastic,
glass and metal.

• Categorical data can take many forms (some of which

are numbers). These numbers generally represent a

1 = dislike, 2 = don’t care, 3 = like).

group or category, such as a rating scale (for example,

• Other common examples of categorical data include

hair colour, gender, brand of vehicle, pizza size (small,
medium, large, family) and rating scales (low, medium,
high).

Numerical data
• Numerical data provides information about variables that
can be counted or measured.
For example, the number of text messages you send in
a day, the number of puppies in a litter, the height of a
tree at your school, and the daily pollution levels on a
particular highway are all examples of data that can be
counted or measured.
• Numerical data can be further classified as discrete (able
to be counted), or continuous (able to be measured).
For example, number of goals scored is a discrete
variable, while height of tree is a continuous variable.

760 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 Types of data

Categorical data Numerical data

Variables that can represent qualities or Variables that represent quantities or
characteristics of groups or categories: measurements that are countable:
e.g. hair colour, gender, ratings e.g. height, mass, salaries, number of
(high, medium, low; or, 1, 2, 3) seats on a bus

Discrete data Continuous data

Can take only particular fixed values, Can take all values usually within a
usually whole numbers: particular range:
e.g. the number of beads on an abacus e.g. the height of a child
Discrete data can be counted. Continuous data can be measured.

Numerical or categorical?

Deciding whether data is numerical or categorical is not always easy. Two things that can help your
decision-making are the following.
1. Numerical data can always be used to perform arithmetic computations. This is not the case with
categorical data. This is a good test to apply when in doubt.
For example, it makes sense to calculate the average weight of a group of individuals, but not the average
hair colour of a class of students.
2. It is not the variable alone that determines whether data is numerical or categorical — it is also the way
the data is recorded.
For example, if the data for the variable weight is recorded in kilograms, it is numerical. However, if the
data is recorded using labels such as ‘underweight’, ‘normal weight’ and ‘overweight’, it is categorical.

WORKED EXAMPLE 1 Classifying data

Classify the following data using the following descriptive words: ‘categorical’ or ‘numerical’
(discrete or continuous).
a. The number of students absent from school
b. The types of vehicle using a certain road
c. The eye colour of each student in your class
d. The room temperature at various times during a particular day

THINK WRITE
a. 1. Determine whether the data is categorical or a. The data is numerical because the number of
numerical. students can be counted or measured.
2. Determine whether the data is discrete The data is discrete because the number of
(countable) or continuous (measurable). absences can be counted rather than measured.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 761

 b. Determine whether the data is categorical or b. The data is categorical because the types of
numerical. vehicles can be placed into groups or
categories (for example, car, truck, motorbike).
c. Determine whether the data is categorical or c. The data is categorical because the colour of
numerical. a person’s eyes fits into groups (for example,
brown, blue, green).
d. 1. Determine whether the data is categorical or d. The data is numerical because the room
numerical. temperature can be counted or measured.
2. Determine whether the data is discrete The data is continuous because temperature
(countable) or continuous (measurable). can be measured rather than counted.

14.2.2 Primary and secondary data

eles-4717
• When data is collected it is either primary data or secondary data. Both primary and secondary data can
be either categorical data or numerical data.
• Primary data is data that you have collected yourself.
• Various methods of collecting primary data are available. These include observation, measurement, survey,
experiment or simulation.
• Secondary data is data that has already been collected by someone else.
• The data can come from a variety of sources:
books, journals, magazines, company reports
•
online databases, broadcasts, videos
•
• government sources — the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides a wealth of statistical data
• general business sources — academic institutions, stockbroking firms, sporting clubs
• media — newspapers, TV reports.
• Secondary data sources often provide data that it would not be possible for an individual to collect.

WORKED EXAMPLE 2 Classifying primary and secondary data

Classify the following as primary data or secondary data.

a. The results of a class survey that you ran about favourite football teams
b. The Bureau of Meteorology’s rainfall data from the last 10 years

THINK WRITE
a. 1. Identify the person/people who collected a. I collected the data.
the data.
2. I collected the data; therefore, it is It is primary data.
primary data.
b. 1. Identify the person/people who collected b. The Bureau of Meteorology collected the data.
the data.
2. Someone else collected the data; therefore, It is secondary data.
it is secondary data.

762 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

Reliability of data
• When using data it is important to identify whether or not the data is reliable.

Determining the reliability of data

To determine the reliability of data, consider the following factors:

• Data source
• Was the data collected by a reputable organisation or individual?
• Did the people who collected the data have a motivation to find certain results? That is, does
the data contain bias? (For example, a cigarette company might wish to fund a survey that finds
no link between cigarettes and lung cancer.)
• Sample size
• Was the sample of data collected small? This is not very reliable.
• Was the sample of data collected large? This is generally more reliable.

DISCUSSION
How are graphs and statistics used to summarise data?

Resources
Resourceseses
eWorkbook Topic 14 Workbook (worksheets, code puzzle and project) (ewbk-1915)
Digital document SkillSHEET Distinguishing discrete from continuous data (doc-6579)
Interactivity Individual pathway interactivity: Classifying data (int-7045)

Exercise 14.2 Collecting and classifying data

Individual pathways
PRACTISE CONSOLIDATE MASTER
1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 13 3, 7, 8, 11, 14 4, 9, 12, 15, 16

To answer questions online and to receive immediate corrective feedback and fully worked solutions for all
questions, go to your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au.

Fluency
1. Match each word with its correct meaning.
a. discrete i. placed in categories or classes
b. categorical ii. data collected by someone else
c. continuous iii. data in the form of numbers
d. numerical iv. used for measurements
e. primary data v. counted in exact values
f. secondary data vi. data collected by me

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 763

2. WE1 Classify each of the following data as ‘categorical’ or
‘numerical’ (discrete or continuous).
a. The population of your town or city
b. The types of motorbikes in a car park
c. The heights of people in an identification line-up
d. The weights of babies in a group
e. The languages spoken at home by students in your class
f. The time spent watching TV

3. Classify each of the following numerical data as either

‘discrete’ or ‘continuous’.
a. The number of children in the families in your suburb
b. The air pressure in your car’s tyres
c. The number of puppies in a litter
d. The times for swimming 50 metres
e. The quantity of fish caught in a net

4. Classify each of the following data as ‘categorical’ or ‘numerical’ (discrete or continuous).

a. The types of shops in a shopping centre
b. The football competition ladder at the end of each round
c. The lifetime of torch batteries
d. The number of people attending the Big Day Out
e. Final Year 12 exam grades
f. Hotel accommodation ratings

5. WE2 Classify the following as primary data or secondary data.

a. The number of cars you counted going past your house in the last hour
b. The Australian government’s data about the number of students enrolled in Australian schools

Understanding
6. Data representing shoe (or rollerblade) sizes can be classified
as categorical. Identify whether this statement is true or false.
7. Data representing the points scored in a basketball game can
best be described as discrete. Identify whether this statement is
true or false.
8. MC Select an example of categorical data.
A. Heights of buildings in Sydney
B. Number of pets in households
C. Types of pets in households
D. Birthday year of students in Year 7
E. Number of hours spent playing sport

9. a. Write a sentence explaining the difference between discrete and continuous data. Give an example
of each.
b. Write a sentence explaining the difference between primary and secondary data. Give an example
of each.

764 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

Reasoning
10. A Likert scale is used to represent people’s attitudes to a topic. A five-level Likert scale could be as follows:
1. Strongly disagree
2. Disagree
3. Neither agree nor disagree
4. Agree
5. Strongly agree
The data collected from a Likert scale is recorded as a numerical value. Explain why this data is categorical
instead of numerical.
11. Explain why data such as postal codes, phone numbers and drivers’ licence numbers is not numerical data.

12. The Fizzy Drink company surveyed 50 people about the health benefits of soft drinks. The results showed
that soft drink is healthy. Explain why this data is unreliable giving at least two reasons.

Problem solving
13. The following questions would collect categorical data. Rewrite the questions so that you could collect
numerical data.
a. Do you read every day?
b. Do you play sport every day?
c. Do you play computer games every day?

14. The following questions would collect numerical data. Rewrite the questions so that you could collect
categorical data.
a. On average, how many minutes per week do you spend on Maths homework?
b. How many books have you read this year?
c. How long does it take you to travel to school?

15. A fisheries and wildlife officer released 200 tagged trout

into a lake. A week later, the officer took a sample of 50
trout and found that 8 of them were tagged. The officer
can use this information to estimate the population of
trout in the lake. Calculate the number of trout that are in
the lake. Explain how you got this answer.
16. Bill is a soccer coach who trains 150 players. Bill
surveys 5 players and the results say that Bill is the best
soccer coach in Australia.
a. Discuss whether Bill has collected primary or
secondary data.
b. Explain whether this data is reliable.
c. Bill wants people to think he is the best soccer coach. Explain how this affect the reliability of the data.
d. If the survey was done by the Australian Institute of Soccer, explain whether the data would be more or
less reliable.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 765

 14.3 Displaying data in tables
LEARNING INTENTION
At the end of this subtopic you should be able to:
• construct a frequency distribution table for a set of data
• analyse and report on the information in a frequency distribution table.

14.3.1 Frequency distribution tables

eles-4718
• Data can be displayed in a variety of forms.
Score (number of
• In general, data is first organised into a table,
family members
and then a suitable graph is chosen as a visual

|||
living at home) Tally Frequency
representation.

||||
• One way of presenting data is by using a 2 3

||||||||
frequency distribution table. 3 !! 5
• Frequency is the number of times a result or

||||||
4 !! 9
piece of data occurs.

||||
• A frequency distribution table consists of three 5 !! 7
columns: score, tally and frequency. 6 4
• The following frequency table is the result of a 7 | 1
survey of 30 students, and it shows the number of 8 | 1
family members who live at home with them. Total 30

WORKED EXAMPLE 3 Constructing and interpreting a frequency table

A particular class was surveyed to determine the number of pets per household, and
the data was recorded. The raw data was:
0, 3, 1, 2, 0, 1, 0, 1, 2, 4, 0, 6, 1, 1, 0, 2, 2, 0, 1, 3, 0, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2
a. Organise the data into a frequency distribution table.
b. Calculate the number of households that were included in the survey.
c. Determine the number of households that have fewer than 2 pets.
d. State the most common number of pets.
e. Determine the number of households that have 3 or more pets.
f. Determine the fraction of households surveyed that had no pets.

THINK WRITE
a. 1. Draw a frequency distribution table a.

||||||
Number of pets Tally Frequency
comprising three columns, headed Number

||||||||
of pets, Tally and Frequency. 0 !! 7

|||||
2. In the first column list the possible number of 1 !! 9
pets per household (from 0 to 6).
||
2 !! 6
3. Place a stroke in the tally column each time

|
3 2
a particular score is noted.
Hint: A score of 5 is shown as a ‘gate post’ 4 1

||||). |
(four vertical strokes and one diagonal 5 0
stroke: ! ! 6 1
4. Write the total number of tally strokes for Total 26
each pet in the frequency column.
5. Calculate the total of the frequency column.

766 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 b. The total of the frequency column gives the b. 26 households were surveyed.

c. Fewer than two pets = 7 + 9

number of households surveyed.

= 16
c. 1. Calculate the number of households that have
fewer than two pets.
Hint: Fewer than two means zero pets or
one pet.
2. Write the answer. 16 households have fewer than two pets.
d. 1. Make a note of the highest value in the d. The score with the highest frequency (9)
frequency column and check which score it corresponds to one pet.
corresponds to.
2. Write the answer. The most common number of pets is one.

e. 3 or more pets = 2 + 1 + 0 + 1
=4
e. 1. Calculate the number of households that have
3 or more pets.
Hint: 3 or more means 3, 4, 5 or 6.
2. Write the answer. Four households have 3 or more pets.
Households with no pets = 7
Total number of households surveyed = 26
f. 1. Write the number of households with no pets. f.
2. Write the total number of households
surveyed.
=
Households with no pets 7
3. Define the fraction and substitute the known
values into the rule. Total number of households surveyed 26
7
4. Write the answer. Of the households surveyed, have no pets.
26

Class intervals
• Sometimes data may contain too many numerical values to list them all individually in the ‘score’ column.
In this case, we use a range of values, called a class interval, as our category. For example, the range
100–104 may be used to cater for all the values that lie within the range, including 100 and 104.

WORKED EXAMPLE 4 Using class intervals in a frequency table

The data below shows the ages of a number of mobile phone owners.
12, 11, 21, 12, 30, 26, 13, 15, 29, 16, 17, 17, 17, 21, 19, 12, 14, 16, 43, 18, 51, 25, 30, 28, 33, 62, 39, 40,
30, 18, 19, 41, 22, 21, 48, 31, 33, 33, 34, 41, 18, 17, 31, 43, 42, 17, 46, 23, 24, 33, 27, 31, 53, 52, 25
a. Construct a frequency table to classify the given data. Use a class interval of 10, that is, ages
11–20, 21–30 and so on, as each category.
b. Calculate the number of people who were surveyed.
c. State the age group that had the most people with mobile phones.
d. State the age group that had the fewest people with mobile phones.
e. Determine the number of people in the 21–30 age group who own a mobile phone.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 767

 THINK WRITE
a. 1. Draw a frequency distribution table. a.

|||| |||| ||||||||

Age group Tally Frequency
2. In the first column, list the possible age

|||| |||| ||||

groups (11–20, 21–30 and so on). 11–20 !!! !! ! 19

|||| ||||
3. Systematically go through the results and 21–30 !!! !! ! 15
place a stroke in the tally column each time
||||||
31–40 !!! ! 10
a particular age group is noted.

|||
41–50 !! 7
4. Write the total tally of strokes for each age

|
51–60 3
group in the frequency column.
5. Calculate the total of the frequency column.
over 60 1
Total 55

b. The total of the frequency column gives us b. A total of 55 people were surveyed.
the number of people surveyed.
c. 1. Make note of the highest value in the c. The 11–20 age group has the highest
frequency column and check which age frequency: that is, a value of 19.
group it corresponds to.
2. Write the answer. The 11–20 age group has the highest number
of people with mobile phones.

d. 1. Make note of the lowest value in the d. The over-60 age group has the lowest
frequency column and check which age frequency: that is, a value of 1.
group it corresponds to.
Note: There may be more than one answer.
2. Write the answer. The over-60 age group has the lowest number
of people with mobile phones.
e. 1. Check the 21–30 age group in the table to e. The 21–30 age group has a corresponding
see which frequency value corresponds to frequency of 15.
this age group.
2. Write the answer. 15 people in the 21–30 age group own a
mobile phone.

Resources
Resourceseses
eWorkbook Topic 14 Workbook (worksheets, code puzzle and project) (ewbk-1915)
Interactivities Individual pathway interactivity: Displaying data in tables (int-4379)
Frequency distribution tables (int-4051)

768 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

Exercise 14.3 Displaying data in tables
Individual pathways
PRACTISE CONSOLIDATE MASTER
1, 3, 6, 7, 10, 13 2, 4, 8, 11, 14 5, 9, 12, 15

To answer questions online and to receive immediate corrective feedback and fully worked solutions for all
questions, go to your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au.

Fluency
1. WE3 The number of children per household in a particular
street is surveyed and the data recorded as follows.
0, 8, 6, 4, 0, 0, 0, 2, 1, 3, 3, 3, 1, 2, 3,
2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 2, 4, 2, 3, 5, 2
a. Organise the data into a frequency distribution table.
b. Calculate the number of households that are included in the survey.
c. Determine the number of households that have no children.
d. Determine the number of households that have at least 3 children.
e. State the most common number of children.
f. Determine the fraction of households surveyed that have 4 children.

2. WE4 The following data shows the incomes of a sample of doctors.

$100 000, $105 000, $110 000, $150 000, $155 000, $106 000, $165 000, $148 000, $165 000,
$200 000, $195 000, $138 000, $142 000, $153 000, $173 000, $149 000, $182 000, $186 000

into brackets of $100 000 to $109 999, $110 000 to $119 999, and so on.
a. Construct a frequency table to classify the given data. Use a class interval of 10 000 to organise incomes

b. Calculate the number of people who were surveyed.

c. State the income bracket that was most common.

Determine the number of doctors who earned $140 000 to $149 999.
d. State the income bracket that was least common.
e.

3. Use this frequency distribution table to answer the following questions.

||
Score Tally Frequency

||||
0 2

|||
1 !! 5

|||| |||||
2 3

|||||||
3 !!! ! 11

||||
4 !! 8
5 4
Total

a. Calculate the number of people who participated in the survey.

b. State the most frequent score.
c. Determine the number of people who scored less than 3.
d. Determine the number of people who scored 3 or more.
e. Calculate the fraction of the people surveyed who scored 3.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 769

4. Draw a frequency distribution table for each of the following data sets.
a. Andrew’s scores in Mathematics tests this semester are:
6, 9, 7, 9, 10, 7, 6, 5, 8, 9.
b. The number of children in each household of a particular street are:
2, 0, 6, 1, 1, 2, 1, 3, 0, 4, 3, 2, 4, 1, 0, 2, 1, 0, 2, 0.
c. The weights (in kilograms) of students in a Year 7 class are:
46, 60, 48, 52, 49, 51, 60, 45, 54, 54, 52, 58, 53, 51,
54, 50, 50, 56, 53, 57, 55, 48, 56, 53, 58, 53, 59, 57.
d. The heights of students in a Year 7 class are:
145, 147, 150, 150, 148, 145, 144, 144, 147, 149, 144, 150, 150, 152,
145, 149, 144, 145, 147, 143, 144, 145, 148, 144, 149, 146, 148, 143.
5. Rosemary decided to survey the participants of her local gym about their preferred sport. She asked each
participant to name one preferred sport. Her results are below:
hockey, cricket, cricket, tennis, scuba diving, netball, tennis, netball, swimming, netball, tennis, hockey,
cricket, lacrosse, lawn bowls, hockey, swimming, netball, tennis, netball, cricket, tennis, hockey, lacrosse,
swimming, lawn bowls, swimming, swimming, netball, netball, tennis, golf, hockey, hockey, lacrosse,
swimming, golf, hockey, netball, swimming, scuba diving, scuba diving, golf, tennis, cricket, cricket,
hockey, lacrosse, netball, golf
a. State any problems with the way Rosemary has displayed the data.
b. Organise Rosemary’s results into a frequency table to show the participants’ preferred sports.
c. From the frequency table, determine:
i. the most preferred sport ii. the least preferred sport.
d. State whether any sport(s) have the same frequency.

Understanding
6. A random sample of 30 families was surveyed to
determine the number of children in high school in each
family. The following is the raw data collected.
2, 1, 1, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 2, 0, 3, 1, 1, 0, 0,
0, 1, 4, 1, 0, 0, 1, 2, 1, 2, 0, 3, 2, 0, 1
a. Organise the data into a frequency distribution table.
b. Determine the number of families that have no children
of high school age.
c. Determine the number of families that have 2 or more
children of high school age.
d. State the score that has the highest frequency.
e. From the 30 families surveyed, state the highest number
of children in high school from one family.
f. Calculate the fraction of families that had 2 children of
high school age.

7. Draw a frequency table to classify the following data on students’ heights. Use a range of values (for
example, 140–144, 145–149, and so on) as each category. The values are listed below.
168 cm, 143 cm, 145 cm, 151 cm, 153 cm, 148 cm, 166 cm, 147 cm, 160 cm, 162 cm,
175 cm, 168 cm, 143 cm, 150 cm, 160 cm, 180 cm, 146 cm, 158 cm, 149 cm, 169 cm,
167 cm, 167 cm, 163 cm, 172 cm, 148 cm, 151 cm, 170 cm, 160 cm

770 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 8. A real estate agent has listed all the properties sold in the area
in the last month. She wants to know what has been the most
popular type of property from the list of sold properties:
2-bedroom house, 4-bedroom house, 3-bedroom house,
2-bedroom unit, 4-bedroom house, 1-bedroom unit,
3-bedroom house, 2-bedroom unit, 3-bedroom house,
1-bedroom unit, 2-bedroom unit, 3-bedroom house,
3-bedroom house, 3-bedroom house, 2-bedroom unit,
1-bedroom unit
a. Complete a frequency table for the list of properties and
work out which type of property was most popular.
b. MC Select the least popular type of property.
A. 1-bedroom unit B. 2-bedroom unit
C. 2-bedroom house D. 3-bedroom house
E. 4-bedroom house
c. MC Choose the type of property that is half as popular as a 2 bedroom unit.
A. 4-bedroom house B. 3-bedroom house
C. 2-bedroom house D. 1-bedroom unit
E. none of these

9. MC Select the statement(s) about the frequency column of a frequency table that are true.
A. It adds up to the total number of categories. B. It adds up to the total number of results given.
C. It adds up to the total of the category values. D. It displays the tally.
E. None of these statements are true.

Reasoning
10. Explain why tallies are drawn in batches of four vertical lines crossed by a fifth one.

11. Discuss what you need to consider when selecting a class interval for a frequency distribution table.

12. Explain the reasoning behind using class intervals and state the circumstances in which they should be used.

Problem solving
13. The following frequency distribution table displays the number of pets in the families of the students of
a class.
Number of pets Frequency % Frequency
0 8
1 11
2 3
3 2
4 0
5 1

a. Determine the number of students in the class.

b. Calculate the percentage frequency for each row of the table.
Another class containing 25 students creates their own version of this frequency distribution table. When the
data in both tables is combined, the percentage frequency of having 1 pet is 34%.
c. Determine the number of students in the other class with one pet in their family.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 771

 14. This frequency table shows the percentage occurrence of the vowels in a piece of writing. Two pieces of data
are missing — the percentage occurrence of the letters O and U. The occurrence of O is 2.6 times that of U.
Determine the two missing values in this table. Show your working.

Vowel Percentage frequency

A 22.7
E 27.6
I 19.9
O
U

15. A survey was conducted on 45 households to identify the number of children living in each household. Use
the following information to determine the results and complete the table.
• The number of households with no children is equal to the number of households with 3 children.
• The number of households with 1 child was 4 times the number of households with no children.
• The number of households with 2 children was 5 times the number of households with no children.
• There was one household with 4 children.

Score Frequency
0
1
2
3
4
Total

14.4 Measures of centre and spread

LEARNING INTENTION
At the end of this subtopic you should be able to:
• calculate the mean, median and mode of a set of data
• calculate the range of a set of data.

14.4.1 Measures of centre

eles-4719
• Measures of centre are statistical values that give us an idea about the centre of a data set. The measures of
centre are mean, median and mode.

The mean
• The mean of a set of data is the average of the values.
• The mean is denoted by the symbol x (a lower-case x with a bar on top).
• The average is found by adding up all of the values in the data set, then dividing by the number of values in
the set.
• The mean is not necessarily a whole number, or a number that was in the original set of data.

772 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 n＝5, odd number
3 4 4 5 5 6 8
Median is the
middle number

Calculating the mean

• The formula for the mean is:

x=
sum of data values
total number of data values
• In most cases the mean is thought of as the centre of a set of data.

WORKED EXAMPLE 5 Calculating the mean

For each of the following sets of data, calculate the mean, x.

Give your answers correct to two decimal places where appropriate.
a. 5, 5, 6, 4, 8, 3, 4 b. 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 7, 7

a. Sum of data values = 5 + 5 + 6 + 4 + 8 + 3 + 4

THINK WRITE

= 35
a. 1. Calculate the sum of the given values.

2. Count the number of values. Number of data values = 7

x=
sum of data values
3. Define the rule for the mean.
total number of data values

=
35
4. Substitute the known values into the

=5
rule and evaluate. 7

5. Write the answer. The mean (or average) of the set of data is 5.

= 3×0+5×1+4×4+3×5+2×7
b. 1. Calculate the sum of the given values. b. Sum of data values

= 0 + 5 + 16 + 15 + 14
Take note of the number of times each

0 occurs 3 times (3 × 0), = 50

value occurs.

1 occurs 5 times (1 × 5),

4 occurs 4 times (4 × 4),
5 occurs 3 times (5 × 3),
7 occurs 2 times (7 × 2)
2. Count the number of values. Number of data values = 17

x=
sum of data values
3. Define the rule for the mean.
total number of data values

=
50
4. Substitute the known values into the

= 2.94117647...
rule and evaluate. 17

5. Round the answer to 2 decimal places. = 2.94

6. State the answer. The mean (or average) of the set of data is 2.94.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 773

The median
• The median represents the middle score when the data values are ordered from smallest to largest (also
known as ‘numerical order’ or ‘ascending order’).

1 2 3 3 4 6 7 7 7 9 9
Lower half Upper half
Median
(middle value)
• An equal number of data values can be found below the median and above it.

Calculating the median

When determining the median, follow these steps.

1. Arrange the data values in ascending order (smallest to largest).
2. Locate the middle value (ensure that there are as many values above the median as there are below it).
3. If the data set contains an even number of data values there will be two ‘middle’ numbers. The median is
the average of these numbers.
Alternatively:
n+1
( )
The position of the median is the th data value, where n is the total number of data values.
2

WORKED EXAMPLE 6 Determining the median

Determine the middle value (median) for the following sets of data.
a. 5, 4, 2, 6, 3, 4, 5, 7, 4, 8, 5, 5, 6, 7, 5 b. 8, 2, 5, 4, 9, 9, 7, 3, 2, 9, 3, 7, 6, 8

THINK WRITE
a. 1. Arrange the data values in ascending order a. 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8
(smallest to largest).

2. Locate the middle value by inserting a 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8

vertical line that splits the data into two equal
sections. The pink line inserted through the
third number 5 splits the data into two equal
sections that each have 7 data values.
3. Write the answer. The median of the data set is 5.
b. 1. Arrange the data values in ascending order b. 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9
(smallest to largest).

2. Locate the middle value by inserting a vertical 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9

line that splits the data into two equal sections.
The pink line inserted in between the 6 and 7
splits the data into two equal sections that each
have 6 data values. 11 21 28 29 33 42
42 - 11 ＝31

774 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 6+7
3. Since the median (or middle position) occurs Median =
2
=
between 6 and 7, we need to determine the
average of these two numbers. The median of 13

= 6.5
the data lies directly between 6 and 7. 2

4. The number directly between 6 and 7 is 6.5. The median of the data set is 6.5.
Write the answer.
Alternative method:
a. 1. Arrange the data values in ascending order a. 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8

n = 15
(smallest to largest).
2. Count the number of data values in the set.

n+1 n+1 15 + 1
= =8
( )th ( )
3. Determine the data value.
2 2 2
n+1
( )th
4. The median is located at the data The median is the 8th value in the set of data.
2 The 8th number in the set of data is 5.
value.
5. Write the answer. The median of the data set is 5.
b. 1. Arrange the data values in ascending order b. 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9

n = 14
(smallest to largest).
2. Count the number of data values in the set.

n+1 n+1 14 + 1
= = 7.5
( )th ( )
3. Determine the data value.
2 2 2
4. The two middle values are the 7th and 8th The middle values are 6 and 7

6 + 7 13
values.

5. Calculate the average of the middle values. = = 6.5

2 2
6. Write the answer. The median of the data set is 6.5.

• As the median is the middle value, it is a common measure of centre, especially for large data sets or data
sets where the average is skewed by a small number of extreme (outlier) values.

The mode
• The mode is the most common value in a set of data. It is the value that occurs most frequently.
• Some sets of data have more than one mode.
• Some sets of data have no mode at all.

Calculating the mode

When determining the mode:

1. arrange the data values in ascending order (smallest to largest) — this step is optional but does help
2. look for the value that occurs most often (the one that has the highest frequency).

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 775

 Important notes about the mode
• If a set of data has no mode, your answer should be the words ‘no mode’, not ‘0’. This is what would
happen when no value occurs more than once in a set of data.
For example, in the set of data 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, no value is repeated, so there is no mode.
• If a set of data has one mode, write this value as your answer.
For example, for the set of data 15, 31, 12, 47, 21, 65, 12, the mode is 12 because it appears twice —
each other value only appears once.
• If a set of data has more than one mode, write all of the values that occur the most as your answer.
For example, for the set of data 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 9, 9, 12, 12, 12, the modes are 2, 6 and 12.

WORKED EXAMPLE 7 Identifying the mode

Identify the mode of the following scores.

a. 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9
b. 12, 18, 5, 17, 3, 5, 2, 10, 12
c. 42, 29, 11, 28, 21

THINK WRITE
a. 1. Look at the set of data and highlight any a. 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9
values that have been repeated.
2. Choose the value that has been repeated The numbers 5 and 6 occur twice. However,
the most. the number 8 occurs three times.
3. Write the answer. The mode for the given set of values is 8.
b. 1. Look at the set of data and highlight any b. 12, 18, 5, 17, 3, 5, 2, 10, 12
values that have been repeated.
2. Choose the value(s) that have been repeated The number 5 occurs twice. The number 12
the most. occurs twice.
3. Write the answer. The modes for the given set of values are
5 and 12.
c. 1. Look at the set of data and highlight any c. 42, 29, 11, 28, 21
value(s) that have been repeated.
2. Write the answer. No values have been repeated. The set of data
has no mode, since each of the numbers occurs
once only.

• The mode is generally not used as a measure of centre, rather as a measure of the most common, or
popular, value.

COLLABORATIVE TASK: Which average?

In this activity you will investigate how the mean, the median and the mode are affected by the size of a
data set. You will also determine which of these is the most useful value.
1. Working in groups of 4 or more, list the number of pets each student has. This will be the data set for
your group.
2. Calculate the mean, the median and the mode of your data set. Explain which measure of centre best
describes the number of pets that people in your group own.

776 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 3. Compare your results with the results found by another group.
4. If you were to combine your data set with the
other group’s data set, predict what would
happen to the mean, the median and the mode.
5. Combine the two sets of data and find the
mean, the median and the mode of this new
data set.
a. Did the new values you calculated agree
with your prediction? Discuss your findings.
b. Explain which of the new measures of centre
best describes the number of pets that people
in the combined group own.
6. Combine your latest set of data with another
group’s data and repeat your calculations for
the mean, the median and the mode.
7. Your teacher will now record the data for the whole class on the board. Calculate the mean, the median
and the mode for the whole class.
8. Discuss the results. Compare the values you found for the mean of each different-sized data set. Do the
same for the median and the mode.
9. If you were to rely on just one of these measures of centre to describe the number of pets that people in
your class own, determine which one you would choose. Discuss your reasons.

14.4.2 Measures of spread

eles-4720
• A measure of spread indicates how far data values are spread from the centre, or from each other.
• Looking at the following two graphical displays, the pink graph on the left is more ‘spread out’ compared
to the green graph on the right. That is, the pink graph has a larger spread (from 0 to 22) compared to the
green graph (from 6 to 18).
• There are several measures of spread, but at this stage we will only discuss the range.
• The range of a set of values is the difference between the largest and smallest values.

9 18
Frequency

Frequency

6 12

3 6

0 0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Number of hours of screen time Number of hours of screen time

Calculating the range

The range of a set of data is the difference between the largest and smallest values in that set.
Range = (largest data value) – (smallest data value)

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 777

 WORKED EXAMPLE 8 Determining the range

Determine the range of the following data.

12, 76, 35, 29, 16, 45, 56

Largest value = 76
THINK WRITE

Smallest value = 12
1. Identify the largest and smallest values.

Range = largest value – smallest value

= 76 − 12
2. State the formula for the range and substitute

= 64
the values in to evaluate it.

3. Write the answer. The range of the data set is 64.

Resources
Resourceseses
eWorkbook Topic 14 Workbook (worksheets, code puzzle and project) (ewbk-1915)
Digital documents SkillSHEET Finding the mean of ungrouped data (doc-6580)
SkillSHEET Finding the median (doc-6581)
Interactivities Individual pathway interactivity: Measures of centre and spread (int-4380)
Measures of centre (int-4052)
Mean (int-4053)
Median (int-4054)
Mode (int-4055)
Range (int-4056)

Exercise 14.4 Measures of centre and spread

Individual pathways
PRACTISE CONSOLIDATE MASTER
1, 4, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16, 21, 22, 27, 2, 5, 6, 9, 12, 17, 18, 23, 24, 28, 3, 7, 13, 14, 19, 20, 25, 26, 33, 34,
28, 29 30, 31, 32 35

To answer questions online and to receive immediate corrective feedback and fully worked solutions for all
questions, go to your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au.

Fluency
1. WE5 For each of the following sets of data, calculate the mean.
a. 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7 b. 5, 6, 7, 5, 5, 8 c. 4, 6, 5, 4, 2, 3
d. 3, 5, 6, 8, 7, 7 e. 5, 4, 4, 6, 2, 3

2. For each of the following sets of data, calculate the mean.

a. 2, 2, 2, 4, 3, 5 b. 12, 10, 13, 12, 11, 14 c. 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 11
d. 12, 15, 16, 17, 15, 15 e. 10, 14, 12, 12, 16, 14

3. For each of the following sets of data, calculate the mean.

Hint: Use the grouping of values to help you.
a. 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 4 b. 1, 2, 2, 4, 4, 5 c. 1, 2, 2, 5, 5, 6, 7
d. 9, 9, 8, 8, 7, 1, 1, 1, 1 e. 3, 3, 3, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2 f. 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 6

778 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 4. WE6a Determine the median (middle value) for the following sets of data.
a. 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7 b. 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9
c. 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5 d. 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9

5. Determine the median (middle value) for the following sets of data.
a. 7, 7, 7, 10, 11, 12, 15, 15, 16 b. 4, 3, 5, 3, 4, 4, 3, 5, 4
c. 1, 2.5, 5, 3.4, 1, 2.4, 5 d. 1.2, 1.5, 1.4, 1.8, 1.9

6. WE6b Determine the median (middle value) for the following sets of data.
a. 1, 1, 2, 2, 4, 4 b. 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7
c. 4, 5, 7, 7, 8, 9 d. 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4

7. Determine the median (middle value) for the following sets of data.
a. 2, 4, 4, 6, 8, 9 b. 1, 5, 7, 8
c. 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9 d. 1, 5, 7, 8, 10, 15

8. WE7 Identify the mode for each of the following sets of data.
a. 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6 b. 2, 9, 8, 8, 4, 5 c. 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3
d. 4, 6, 4, 2, 7, 3 e. 2, 4, 3, 6, 2, 4, 2

9. Identify the mode for each of the following sets of data.

a. 4, 8, 8, 3, 3, 4, 3, 3 b. 6, 2, 12, 10, 14, 14, 10, 12, 10, 12, 10, 12, 10, 12
c. 7, 9, 4, 6, 26, 71, 3, 3, 3, 2, 4, 6, 4, 25, 4 d. 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 9, 9, 9, 6
e. 3, 7, 4, 5, 22

10. WE8 Determine the range of the following sets of data:

a. 15, 26, 6, 38, 10, 17
b. 12.8, 21.5, 1.9, 12.0, 25.4, 2.8, 1.3

Understanding
11. MC Select the method(s) that can be used to calculate the mean for the data 5, 5, 6, 7, 2.
A. Adding all the results and multiplying by the number of results
B. Adding all the results and dividing by the number of results
C. Adding all the results
D. Choosing the middle result
E. Ordering the results, then choosing the middle result
12. MC Select statement(s) that are true about calculating the mean of a set of data.
A. Zeroes do not matter at all.
B. Zeroes must be counted in the number of results.
C. Zeroes must be added to the total as they will change it.
D. Zeroes will make the mean zero.
E. None of these are true.
13. MC Choose the statement that is true about the set of data 2.6, 2.8, 3.1, 3.7, 4.0, 4.2.
A. The mean value for the data will be above 4.2.
B. The mean value for the data will be below 2.6.
C. The mean value for the data will be between 2.6 and 3.0.
D. The mean value for the data will be between 3.0 and 4.0.
E. The mean value for the data will be between 4.0 and 4.2.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 779

14. MC Choose the correct statement.
A. The mean, median and mode for any set of data will always be the same value.
B. The mean, median and mode for any set of data will never be the same value.
C. The mean, median and mode for any set of data must always be close in value.
D. The mean, median and mode for any set of data are sometimes close in value.
E. None of these statements are true.
15. MC Select the range of the set of numbers: 16, 33, 24, 48, 11, 30, 15
A. 48 B. 59 C. 37 D. 20 E. 11

16. Eleanor wanted to know what her Mathematics test average was. Eleanor’s teacher told her that she had
used the mean of Eleanor’s test results to calculate the end-of-year mark. Eleanor’s test results (written as
percentages) are:
89, 87, 78, 75, 89, 94, 82, 93, 78
Calculate Eleanor’s mean Mathematics test score.
17. A cricketer had scores of 14, 52, 35, 42 and 47 in her last 5 innings. Determine her mean score.

18. Eliza works in a shoe factory as a shoe inspector. The number of

shoes Eliza inspected in an hour was counted over a number of
days’ work. The following list contains the results.

105, 102, 105, 106, 103, 105, 105,

102, 108, 110, 102, 103, 106, 107,
108, 102, 105, 106, 105, 104, 102,
99, 98, 105, 102, 101, 97, 100
Calculate the mean number of shoes checked by Eliza in one
hour. Round your answer to the nearest whole number.

19. The number of students in the canteen each lunchtime was surveyed for 2 weeks. The following are the
results.
52, 45, 41, 42, 53, 45, 47, 32, 52, 56
Calculate the mean number of students in the canteen at lunchtime in that fortnight. Round your answer to
the nearest whole number.
20. Answer the following questions.
a. Explain what ‘the mean number of goals scored in a soccer match’ means.
b. Explain what ‘the median house price’ means.
c. Explain what ‘the mode of shoe-size data’ means.

Reasoning
21. Suggest why we summarise data by calculating measures of centre and spread.

22. The local football team has been doing very well. They want to advertise their average score to attract new
club members. You suggest that they use the mean of their past season’s game scores. They ask you to find it
out for them. Their results are listed below (scores are given as total points for each game).
110, 112, 141, 114, 112, 114, 95, 75, 58, 115, 116, 115, 75,
114, 78, 96, 78, 115, 112, 115, 102, 75, 79, 154, 117, 62

a. Calculate the team’s mean score. Show your working.

b. Identify whether the mode or median is the ‘better’ value to use to attract new club members. Justify your
answer.

780 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

23. A clothing company wanted to know the size of jeans that
should be manufactured in the largest quantities. A number of
shoppers were surveyed and asked their jeans size.
The results are given below.

13, 12, 14, 12, 15, 16, 14, 12, 15, 14, 12,
14, 13, 14, 11, 10, 12, 13, 14, 14, 10, 12,
14, 12, 12, 10, 8, 16, 17, 12, 11, 13, 12,
15, 14, 12, 17, 8, 16, 11, 12, 13, 12, 12

a. Determine the mode of the data.

b. Explain why the company would be more interested in the mode than the mean or median values.

24. Explain whether we are able to calculate the mean, median, mode and range of categorical data.

25. Tom thinks that the petrol station where he buys his petrol is cheaper than the one where his friend Sarah
buys her petrol. They begin to keep a daily watch on the prices for 4 weeks and record the following prices
(in dollars per litre).
Tom: 1.32, 1.37, 1.39, 1.39, 1.40, 1.42, 1.41, 1.38, 1.34, 1.30,
1.29, 1.28, 1.27, 1.26, 1.25, 1.25, 1.24, 1.25, 1.24, 1.24,
1.25, 1.25, 1.26, 1.27, 1.28, 1.28, 1.30, 1.32

Sarah: 1.41, 1.37, 1.32, 1.31, 1.29, 1.27, 1.24, 1.22, 1.21, 1.21,
1.20, 1.19, 1.20, 1.21, 1.22, 1.23, 1.24, 1.24, 1.25, 1.26,
1.27, 1.28, 1.28, 1.28, 1.29, 1.30, 1.32, 1.31

a. Calculate the mean petrol prices for Tom and Sarah.

b. Identify the petrol station that sells cheaper petrol on average. Justify
your answer.
c. Explain why Tom might have been wrong about thinking his petrol station
was cheaper.

26. Jennifer wants to make sure the mean height of her jump in the high jump for 10 jumps is over 1.80 metres.
a. Calculate her current mean if her jumps so far have been (in metres) 1.53, 1.78, 1.89, 1.82, 1.53, 1.81,
1.75, 1.86, 1.82. Show your working.
b. Determine what height she needs to jump on the tenth jump to achieve a mean of 1.80. Show your
working.
c. Discuss whether this is likely, given her past results.

Problem solving
27. Kim has an average (mean) score of 72 in Scrabble. He has played 6 games. Determine what he must score
in the next game to keep the same average.
28. Peter has calculated his mean score for history to be 89%, based on 5 tests. If he scores 92% in the sixth test,
calculate his new mean score.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 781

29. The club coach at a local cycling track was overheard saying that he thought at least half of the cyclists using
the track were cycling at speeds of 30 km/h or more. The speeds (in km/h) of the club cyclists are listed as
follows.
31, 22, 40, 12, 26, 39, 49, 23, 24, 38, 27, 16, 25, 37, 19, 25, 45, 23, 17, 20, 34, 19, 24, 15, 40, 39,
11, 29, 33, 44, 29, 50, 18, 22, 51, 24, 19, 20, 30, 40, 49, 29, 17, 25, 37, 25, 18, 34, 21, 20, 18

Discuss whether the coach’s statement is correct.

30. Identify five whole numbers that have a mean of 10 and a median of 12.

31. The mean of five different test scores is 15. All test scores are whole numbers. Determine the largest and
smallest possible test scores, given that the median test score is 12.
32. Gavin records the amount of rainfall in millimetres each day over a two-week period. Gavin’s results are:
11, 24, 0, 6, 15, 0, 0, 0, 12, 0, 0, 127, 15, 0.
a.Determine the mean rainfall for the two-week period.
b.Determine the median rainfall.
c.Identify the mode of the rainfall.
d.State which of the mean, median and mode is the best measure of the typical rainfall. Explain your
choice.
33. A group of 3 children have a mean height of 142 cm. The
middle height is the same as the mean. The tallest child
leaves the group, and is replaced by a child with the same
height as the shortest child.
The mean height of this group of three children is now
136 cm. Calculate the heights of the 4 children. Explain how
you got your answer.
34. The mean of 5 different test scores is 10. All test scores are
whole numbers. Determine the largest and smallest possible
values for the median.
35. The mean of 9 different test scores ranging from 0 to 100 is 85. The median is 80. All test scores are whole
numbers. Determine the greatest possible range between the highest and lowest possible test scores.

782 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 14.5 Column graphs and dot plots
LEARNING INTENTION
At the end of this subtopic you should be able to:
• display data as a column or bar graph
• display data as a dot plot
• analyse and interpret column and bar graphs and dot plots.

14.5.1 Column and bar graphs

eles-4721

Features of graphs
• Graphs are a useful way of displaying data, or numerical information. TV, websites, newspapers and
magazines frequently display data as graphs.
• All graphs should have the following features:
a title — to tell us what the graph is about
•
clear labels for the axes — to explain what is being shown
•
• evenly scaled axes — if the graph has numerical axes, they must have a scale that is constant for the
length of the axes, with a clear indication of the units being used
• legends — these are not always necessary, but they are necessary when any symbols or colours are used
to illustrate some element of the graph.
• Different graphical displays are used depending whether the data is categorical or numerical.

Average maximum temperatures and average

minimum temperatures for Melbourne
Average maximum
26 temperature
24
Average minimum
22 temperature
20
Temperature (°C)

18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
n.

b.

ay

ne

ly

.
ov
ar

pr

ug

pt

ct

ec
Fe
Ja

Ju
M

Ju
M

O
A

Se

D
N
A

Month

Using column graphs and bar graphs

• Column and bar graphs can be used to represent categorical data.
• The frequency for each category determines the length of the bar or the height of the column.
• It is easiest to graph the data from a frequency table.
• The advantage of column and bar graphs is that they are usually easy to prepare and interpret.
• The disadvantages of column and bar graphs are:
• if they are displaying a large number of categories they become difficult to understand
• they don’t provide a visualisation of what proportion each category is of the whole.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 783

Column graphs
• Column graphs should
Monthly iPhone sales
be presented on graph
paper and have: 100
• a title
90
• labelled axes that are 80

Number of sales
clearly and evenly 70
scaled 60
• columns of the same 50
width 40
• an even gap between 30
each column 20
• a space between the 10
vertical axis and the 0

n.

b.

ay

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ly

.
ar

pr

ug

pt

ct

ov

ec
Ja

Fe
first column.

Ju
M

Ju

O
M

Se
A

D
A

N
Month

WORKED EXAMPLE 9 Constructing a column graph from a frequency table

Beth surveyed the students in her class to find out their preferences for the school uniform. Her
results are shown in the following table. Construct a column graph to display the results.

|||||||
Type of uniform Tally Frequency

||||
White shirt and black skirt/trousers !! 8

|||| ||||||
Blue shirt and black skirt/trousers 4

||||
Blue shirt and navy skirt/trousers !!! ! 12
White shirt and navy skirt/trousers ! ! 5
Total 29

THINK DRAW
1. Rule a set of axes on graph paper. Give the graph a Uniform preferences
title. Label the horizontal and vertical axes.
12
Number of people

2. Scale the horizontal and vertical axes.

10
Hint: Leave an interval at the beginning and end
in favour

8
of the graph by placing the first column a half or
6
one unit from the vertical axis, and making sure
4
the horizontal axis is a half or one unit longer than 2
needed to fit all of the columns.
0
3. Draw the first column so that it reaches a vertical
ou d
ou d

ou d
o d
rs

rs

vy ite ers

/tr an
/tr an

rs
/tr an
/tr n
se

na lu use

height corresponding to 8 people. Label the section

irt t a

se
s

irt irt
irt rt

irt rt
sk shir
sk hi

sk shi

sk sh
k es

of the axis below the column as ‘White shirt and

vy e
ac ue
ac it

na Wh
bl Wh

bl l

B
B

black skirt/trousers’.
k

4. Leave a gap (measuring one column width)

Type of uniform
between the first column and the second column.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each of the remaining
uniform types. 54, 60, 64, 67, 73, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 83, 89, 91, 93, 94, 95, 100

9 numbers What's the median

9 numbers

784 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 Bar graphs
• Column graphs that are drawn horizontally are known Musical instruments learned
as bar graphs. Bar graphs can be used when category by year 7 students
names are too long to fit at the bottom of a column.
• Bar graphs should have the same features as a column Guitar
graph; that is:
• a title Violin

Musical instrument
• labelled and evenly scaled axes
Drums
• bars of the same width
• even gaps between bars.
Flute
Trumpet

Clarinet
14.5.2 Dot plots
eles-4723
• Dot plots are usually used to represent numerical data. Saxophone
They use dots on a number line to show individual
data values. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
• If a data value appears more than once, the dots are
Number of students
stacked vertically.
• Dot plots give a quick overview of distribution. They show clustering
(groups of dots) and outliers (values that are extremely small or large
compared to the majority of values).
• The dot plot shown here displays the number of hours of screen time each
day for a group of people. Each dot represents the number of hours of 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
screen time per day for each person. Two people had 6 hours of screen time Number of hours of screen time
on a particular day. each day

WORKED EXAMPLE 10 Constructing a dot plot

Over a 2-week period, the number of packets of potato chips sold from a vending machine each day
was recorded. The results are listed below.
10, 8, 12, 11, 12, 18, 13, 11, 12, 11, 12, 12, 13, 14
a. Draw a dot plot of the data.
b. Comment on the distribution.

THINK WRITE
a. 1. Use a number line to include the full range a.
of data recorded.
2. Place a dot above the number for each value
recorded. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Number of packets of chips sold

b. Comment on interesting features of the b. The scores on this dot plot extend from 8 to
dot plot, for example the range, clustering, 18. That gives a range of 10. On most days
extreme values or any practical information between 11 to 13 packets of chips were sold.
about the situation. There were very few days on which 8 and
18 packets of chips were sold. Making sure
that there are enough chips to sell 20 packets
per day should cover even the most extreme
demand for chips from this machine.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 785

 Resources
Resourceseses
eWorkbook Topic 14 Workbook (worksheets, code puzzle and project) (ewbk-1915)
Interactivities Individual pathway interactivity: Column graphs and dot plots (int-8471)
Representing data graphically (int-4057)
Column and bar graphs 1 (int-4058)
Column and bar graphs 2 (int-4059)

Exercise 14.5 Column graphs and dot plots

Individual pathways
PRACTISE CONSOLIDATE MASTER
1, 4, 6, 9, 12 2, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13 3, 8, 11, 14

To answer questions online and to receive immediate corrective feedback and fully worked solutions for all
questions, go to your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au.

Fluency
1. WE9 Beth surveyed the students in her class to find out their method of travelling to school. Her results are
shown in the following table. Construct a column graph to display the data.

|||| |||| ||||

Transport Tally Frequency

||||||||
Car !!! !! ! 15

|||| |||| |||||||

Tram ! ! 9

|||||||
Train !!! !! ! 18

|||
Bus !! 8
Bicycle 3
Total 53

2. Construct a column graph to display the data in the table shown, displaying the mean daily maximum
temperatures for each month in Cairns, Queensland.

Month Mean daily maximum temperature (°C)

January 31.8
February 31.5
March 30.7
April 29.3
May 27.6
June 25.9
July 25.6
August 26.4
September 27.9
October 29.7
November 30.8
December 31.8

786 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

3. The data in the table displays the number of students absent from school each day in a fortnight. Construct a
bar graph to display the data.

Number of students
Day absent
Monday 15
Tuesday 17
Wednesday 20
Thursday 10
Friday 14
Monday 16
Tuesday 14
Wednesday 12
Thursday 5
Friday 14

4. WE10 Over a 2-week period, the number of packets of potato chips sold from a vending machine each day
was recorded as follows: 15, 17, 18, 18, 14, 16, 17, 6, 16, 18, 16, 16, 20, 18.
a. Draw a dot plot of the data.
b. Comment on the distribution.

5. Draw a dot plot for each of the following sets of data.

a. 2, 0, 5, 1, 3, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3
b. 18, 22, 20, 19, 20, 21, 19, 20, 21
c. 5.2, 5.5, 5.0, 5.8, 5.3, 5.2, 5.6, 5.3, 6.0, 5.5, 5.6
d. 49, 52, 60, 55, 57, 60, 52, 66, 49, 53, 61, 57, 66, 62, 64, 48, 51, 60

Understanding
6. Phone bills often include a graph showing your previous bill totals. Use the phone bills column graph shown
to answer the following questions.

Phone bills April 2020–April 2021

$160.00
$140.00
$120.00
Bill total

$100.00
$80.00
$60.00
$40.00
$20.00
$0.00
4/20 7/20 10/20 1/21 4/21
Months

a. State the horizontal axis label.

b. State the vertical axis label.
c. Determine how often this person receives a phone bill.
d. State in which month their phone bill was the highest.

If the next bill was for $240.09, explain whether this would be expected.
e. Explain why it would be useful to receive a graph like this with your phone bill.
f.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 787

7. An apple grower records his sales for a 12-week period.

Apple sales over a 12-week period

70

60
Number of boxes sold
50

40

30

20

10

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Week number

a. Determine the number of boxes sold:

i. in the first week ii. in the fifth week iii. in the eighth week.

b. The values for some weeks might be unusual. Determine which values these ones are.
c. Does the graph indicate that apple sales are improving? Explain your answer.

8. The students in a Year 7 physical education class were asked to sprint for 10 seconds. The teacher recorded
their results on 2 different days. The graph shown displays the results collected.

Distances run by 8 students on 1 April and 29 April

1 April
80.0
29 April

70.0
Distance (m)

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0
ish

tty

al

ai

el

ira

la
ra

ch

u
Be

m
am

Pa
Sa

Ja

Ra

Su
H

Name of student

a. State who was the fastest student on each day.

b. Identify how far the fastest student ran on each day.
c. Determine who improved the most.
d. Determine which students did not improve, if any.
e. Explain whether this graph could be misleading in any way.
f. Why might the graph’s vertical axis start at 30 m?

788 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

Reasoning
9. Explain why it is important for the data points in a dot plot to be neatly aligned above the value they
are representing.
10. Explain why column and bar graphs are more often used to represent categorical data rather than
numerical data.
11. Explain and give an example of the effect that outliers in a set of data have on the:
a. mean b. median
c. mode d. range.

Problem solving
12. Loic surveys his class to determine which eye colour is most common and obtains the following results.
Blue, Brown, Brown, Green, Brown, Blue, Hazel, Brown, Brown, Hazel, Brown, Brown,
Blue, Brown,Brown, Brown, Hazel, Brown, Brown, Blue, Brown, Blue, Blue
a. Represent this data as a bar graph.
b. Determine the median of this sample.
c. Identify the mode of this sample.
d. If a student is selected at random from the class, calculate the probability that they don’t have
brown eyes.
13. Ten randomly chosen students from Class A and Class B each sit for a test in which the highest possible
mark is 10. The results of the ten students from the two classes are:
Class A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Class B 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 9 10

a. Display the data on a dot plot.

b. Calculate measures of centre and spread.
c. Explain any similarities or differences between the results of the two classes.

14. A new whitegoods store opened up in town five weeks ago. The
Number of fridges sold per week
column graph at the right shows the number of fridges they have
sold over their first five weeks. 60
a. Identify the number of fridges they sold in week 2.
Fridges sold

50
b. Describe how the number of fridges sold changed from week 40
to week. 30

week over the first five weeks. Let F = the number of fridges
c. Write a formula to describe the number of fridges sold each 20

sold, and w = the week number.

10

0 1 2 3 4 5
d. Using your answer to part b or c, predict the number of fridges Week
they will sell in week 10.

14.6 Stem-and-leaf plots

LEARNING INTENTION
At the end of this subtopic you should be able to:
• display data as a stem-and-leaf plot
• analyse and interpret stem-and-leaf plots.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 789

 14.6.1 Stem-and-leaf plots
eles-4724
• A stem-and-leaf plot may be used as an alternative to a frequency distribution table.
• Stem-and-leaf plots are used to display numerical data.
• Sometimes the term ‘stem-and-leaf plot’ is shortened to ‘stem plot’.
• Each piece of data in a stem plot is made up of two components: a stem and a leaf.
For example, the value 28 is made up of 20, a tens component (the stem), and 8, the units component
(the leaf).

Key: 2|8 = 28
In a stem plot, 28 would be written as:

Stem Leaf
2 8
• It is important to provide a key when drawing up stem plots to make sure the data can be read and
interpreted correctly.
• Ordered stem plots have the leaf part written in ascending order from left to right.

WORKED EXAMPLE 11 Constructing an ordered stem-and-leaf plot

Prepare an ordered stem-and-leaf plot for each of the following sets of data.
a. 129, 148, 137, 125, 148, 163, 152, 158, 172, 139, 162, 121, 134
b. 1.6, 0.8, 0.7, 1.2, 1.9, 2.3, 2.8, 2.1, 1.6, 3.1, 2.9, 0.1, 4.3, 3.7, 2.6

a. Key: 12|1 = 121

THINK WRITE
a. 1. Rule two columns with the headings ‘Stem’ and ‘Leaf’.
2. Include a key to the plot that tells the reader the meaning Stem Leaf
of each entry. 12 951
3. Make a note of the smallest and largest values of 13 794
the data (that is, 121 and 172 respectively). List the 14 88
stems in ascending order in the first column (that is, 15 28
12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17). Note: The hundreds and tens
16 32
components of the number represent the stem.
4. Systematically work through the given data and enter 17 2
the leaf (unit component) of each value in a row beside
the appropriate stem. Note: The first row represents the
interval 120–129, the second row represents the interval

Key: 12|1 = 121

130–139 and so on.
5. Redraw the stem plot so that the numbers in each row of
the leaf column are in ascending order.
Stem Leaf
12 159
13 479
14 88
15 28
16 23
17 2

790 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 b. 1. Rule the stem and leaf columns and include a key. b. Key: 0|1 = 0.1
2. Include a key to the plot that tells the reader the meaning
Stem Leaf
of each entry.
0 871
3. Make a note of the smallest and largest values of the
1 6296
data (that is, 0.1 and 4.3 respectively). List the stems in
ascending order in the first column (that is, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4). 2 38196
Note: The units components of the decimal represent 3 17
the stem. 4 3
4. Systematically work through the given data and
enter the leaf (tenth component) of each decimal in
a row beside the appropriate stem. Note: The first
row represents the interval 0.1–0.9, the second row

Key: 0|1 = 0.1

represents the interval 1.0–1.9 and so on.
5. Redraw the stem plot so that the numbers in each row of
the leaf column are in ascending order.
Stem Leaf
0 178
1 2669
2 13689
3 17
4 3

• The advantage of using a stem plot instead of a grouped frequency distribution table is that all the original
pieces of data are retained. This means it is possible to identify the smallest and largest values. It is also
possible to identify any repeated values. This makes it possible to calculate measures of centre (such as
mean, median and mode) and spread (range). These identifications and calculations cannot be done when
values are grouped in class intervals.
• The disadvantages of stem plots are:
• they are not very informative for small sets of data or data that is tightly clustered together
• they are not very manageable for data that has a large range.

Back-to-back stem-and-leaf plots

• Two sets of data can be displayed using just one stem, by placing the leaf parts for each set on either side of
the stem. This is called a back-to-back stem-and-leaf plot.
• Back-to-back stem-and-leaf plots are used to display numerical data for two different groups. For example,
test scores for two classes, Class A and Class B, can be displayed as shown here:

Key: 5|6 = 56%

Leaf (Class A) Stem Leaf (Class B)
432 5 6
85341 6 0024
9644310 7 35678889
88753 8 0146
863 9 235678

• In a back-to-back stem-and-leaf plot, the values in the leaf are written in ascending order, working
outwards from the stem.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 791

 WORKED EXAMPLE 12 Constructing a back-to-back stem-and-leaf plot

The ages of male and female groups using a ten-pin bowling centre are listed.
Males: 65, 15, 50, 15, 54, 16, 57, 16, 16, 21, 17, 28, 17, 27, 17, 22,
35, 18, 19, 22, 30, 34, 22, 31, 43, 23, 48, 23, 46, 25, 30, 21
Females: 16, 60, 16, 52, 17, 38, 38, 43, 20, 17, 45, 18, 45, 36,
21, 34, 19, 32, 29, 21, 23, 32, 23, 22, 23, 31, 25, 28
Display the data as a back-to-back stem plot and comment on the distribution.

Key: 1|5 = 15
THINK WRITE
1. Rule three columns, headed ‘Leaf (female)’,
‘Stem’ and ‘Leaf (male)’. Leaf (female) Stem Leaf (male)
2. Make a note of the smallest and largest values 987766 1 5566677789
across both sets of data (15 and 65). List the
8532331910 2 1872223351
stems in ascending order in the middle column.
1224688 3 50410
3. Beginning with the males, work through the 553 4 386
given data and enter the leaf (unit component) 2 5 047
of each value in a row beside the appropriate 0 6 5
stem.
4. Repeat step 3 for the females’ set of data.

5. Include a key that tells the reader the meaning Key: 1 ∣ 5 = 15

of each entry.
Leaf (female) Stem Leaf (male)
6. Redraw the stem plot so that the numbers in
987766 1 5566677789
each row of the leaf columns are in ascending
order. 9853332110 2 1122233578
Note: The smallest values are closest to the 8864221 3 00145
stem column and increase as they move away 553 4 368
from the stem. 2 5 047
0 6 5

7. Comment on any interesting features. The youngest male attending the ten-pin bowling
centre is 15 and the oldest is 65. The youngest female
attending the centre is 16 and the oldest is 60. Ten-pin
bowling is most popular for men in their teens and
20s, and for females in their 20s and 30s.

COLLABORATIVE TASK: Secret numbers

As a class, construct a stem-and-leaf plot using data supplied by each student.
1. Write a whole number between 210 and 290 on a piece of paper.
2. As a class, decide what the stems will be for this data and come up with a key that matches this.
3. One student should volunteer to draw two columns headed ‘Stem’ and ‘Leaf’ on the left-hand side of the
board and list the stems in ascending order in the first column. Remember to also include the key that
you came up with in step 2.

792 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 4. Each student should then come to the board one at a time to write the leaf part of their own number in
the appropriate row of the stem-and-leaf plot. Show a classmate your number and have them check that
you have written your piece of data in the correct row.
5. Is the stem-and-leaf plot drawn on the board an ordered stem-and-leaf plot? How can you tell? If it is
not, how can it be redrawn to make it ordered?
6. Several students should volunteer to use the answers from step 5 to draw the final version of the
stem-and-leaf plot on the right-hand side of the board.
7. As a class, make some observations about the distribution of the data. Did any students have the same
secret number?
8. Explain whether there is a type of graph that looks similar to a stem-and-leaf plot? Discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of using this kind of graph compared with using a stem-and-leaf plot for
displaying data.

Resources
Resourceseses
eWorkbook Topic 14 Workbook (worksheets, code puzzle and project) (ewbk-1915)
Interactivities Individual pathway interactivity: Stem-and-leaf plots (int-8472)
Stem-and-leaf plots (int-4060)

Exercise 14.6 Stem-and-leaf plots

Individual pathways
PRACTISE CONSOLIDATE MASTER
1, 5, 6, 9, 12 2, 3, 7, 10, 13 4, 8, 11, 14

To answer questions online and to receive immediate corrective feedback and fully worked solutions for all
questions, go to your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au.

Fluency
1. WE11 The following data gives the number of fruit that have formed on
each of 40 trees in an orchard.
29, 37, 25, 62, 73, 41, 58, 62, 73, 67, 47, 21, 33, 71,
92, 41, 62, 54, 31, 82, 93, 28, 31, 67, 29, 53, 62, 21,
78, 81, 51, 25, 93, 68, 72, 46, 53, 39, 28, 40

Prepare an ordered stem plot that displays the data.

2. The number of mistakes made each week by 30 machine operators is recorded below.
12, 2, 0, 10, 8, 16, 27, 12, 6, 1, 40, 16, 25, 3, 3 12,
31, 19, 22, 15, 7, 17, 21, 18, 32, 33, 12, 28, 31, 32, 14
Prepare an ordered stem plot that displays the data.
3. Prepare an ordered stem plot for each of the following sets of data.
a. 132, 117, 108, 129, 165, 172, 145, 189, 137, 116, 152, 164, 118
b. 131, 173, 152, 146, 150, 171, 130, 124, 114
c. 207, 205, 255, 190, 248, 248, 248, 237, 225, 239, 208, 244
d. 748, 662, 685, 675, 645, 647, 647, 708, 736, 691, 641, 735

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 793

4. Prepare an ordered stem plot for each of the following sets of data.
a. 1.2, 3.9, 5.8, 4.6, 4.1, 2.2, 2.8, 1.7, 5.4, 2.3, 1.9
b. 7.7, 6.0, 9.3, 8.3, 6.5, 9.2, 7.4, 6.9, 8.8, 8.4, 7.5, 9.8
c. 14.8, 15.2, 13.8, 13.0, 14.5, 16.2, 15.7, 14.7, 14.3, 15.6, 14.6, 13.9, 14.7, 15.1, 15.9, 13.9, 14.5
d. 0.18, 0.51, 0.15, 0.02, 0.37, 0.44, 0.67, 0.07
5. WE12 The number of goals scored in football matches by Mitch and Yani were recorded as follows.

Mitch 0 3 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 1
Yani 1 2 0 1 0 1 2 2 1 1

Display the data as a back-to-back stem plot and comment on the distribution.

Understanding
6. Answer the following questions for the back-to-back stem plot in question 5.
a. Determine the number of times each player scored more than 1 goal.
b. State who scored the greatest number of goals in a match.
c. State who scored the greatest number of goals overall.
d. State who is the more consistent performer.
7. The stem plot shown gives the ages of members of a theatrical group. Key: 2 ∣ 4 = 24
a. Determine the number of people that are in the theatrical group.
Stem Leaf
b. Identify the age of the youngest member of the group.
c. Identify the age of the oldest member of the group. 1 78899
d. Determine the number of people who are over 30 years of age. 2 2479
e. State the most common age in the group. 3 1338
f. Determine the number of people who are over 65 years of age. 4 022266
5 57
6 4

8. Sprint times, in seconds, over 100 metres were recorded for a random sample of 20 runners as follows.

10.8, 11.0, 12.0, 13.2, 12.4, 13.9, 11.8, 12.8, 14.0, 15.0,
11.2, 12.6, 12.5, 12.8, 13.6, 11.5, 13.6, 10.9, 14.1, 13.9
a. Show the data as a stem-and-leaf plot.
b. Comment on the range of performance and other interesting points.
c. Draw conclusions about the runners’ performances.

Reasoning
9. Explain why it is important to use a key with all stem-and-leaf plots. Give an example to illustrate
your answer.
10. Explain why it is important to order and align data values when constructing a stem-and-leaf plot.

11. The scores in a Mathematics test for two classes are shown in the following table.

7F 91 77 85 82 43 84 77 79 78 92 81 80 41 88
7G 76 85 82 74 89 83 68 66 78 82 80 78 75 76

a. Display the data as a back-to-back stem-and-leaf plot.

b. Calculate the mean and median for each class.
c. Explain which of these measures of centre is the most appropriate in this situation.

794 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 Problem solving
12. The following stem-and-leaf plot displays the ages of a sample of people who were in a Key: 2 | 1 = 21
grocery store on a particular day. Stem Leaf
a. Determine the range of their ages. 1 8
b. Determine the mode of their ages. 2 24
c. One more person in the store is added to the sample. The mean is now equal to the 3 09
mode. Determine the age of this additional person. Show your working. 4 13358
5 7
13. The following data shows the maximum temperature for 7 straight days in two different 6 5
cities. The temperatures were recorded in the month of Feburary. 7 13
City A 25 23 21 24 29 36 30
City B 20 17 13 13 12 12 13

a. Display the data as a back-to-back stem-and-leaf plot.

b. Calculate the range, median, mean and mode for each city.
c. One of the cities is in the northern hemisphere and the other is in the southern hemisphere. Use your
answers to part b to determine which city is in the northern hemisphere and which is in the southern
hemisphere.
14. Percentages in a Mathematics exam for two classes were as follows:

9A 32 65 60 54 85 73 67 65 49 96 57 68
9B 46 74 62 78 55 73 60 75 73 77 68 81

a. Construct a back-to-back stem plot of the data.

b. Determine the percentage of each group who scored above 50.
c. State which group had more scores over 80.
d. Compare the clustering for each group and comment on any extreme values.
e. Parallel dot plots are obtained by constructing individual dot plots for each set of data and positioning
them on a common scale. Construct a parallel dot plot of the data (use colour).
f. Compare class performances by reference to both graphs.

14.7 Pie charts and divided bar graphs

LEARNING INTENTION
At the end of this subtopic you should be able to:
• display data as a sector graph (pie chart)
• display data as a divided bar graph
• analyse and interpret sector and divided bar graphs.

14.7.1 Sector graphs and divided bar graphs

eles-4725
• Sector graphs or pie charts, are made up of sectors of a circle. Divided bar graphs are made up of a
rectangle divided into bars.
• Both of these types of graphs are used to represent categorical data — they are not suitable for numerical
data.
• The sector graph and divided bar graph shown have six different sectors.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 795

 Types of music streamed on a Saturday morning
5%

10%
Top 20
Alternative
10% 40%
Children’s
Dance

15% Country
Classical

20%

• In a sector graph the sectors should be ordered from largest to smallest in a clockwise direction (starting
at 12 o’clock).
• In a divided bar graph the bars should be ordered largest to smallest from left to right.

Types of music streamed on a Saturday morning

40% 20% 15% 10% 10% 5%
Top 20 Children’s Country
Alternative Dance Classical

• Each sector or bar must be labelled appropriately either on the graph or using a legend.

Drawing sector graphs and divided bar graphs by hand

• To draw sector graphs and divided bar graphs you must determine the fraction (or percentage) of the total
that is represented by each category.
• The fraction of the whole that each category represents should correspond to the fraction/percentage of the
sector/divided bar graph.
• The following table shows how to draw a sector graph and a divided bar graph from data.

Category Frequency Fraction of total Angle at centre of circle Length of bar

= × 360° = 90° × 12 = 3 cm
3 1 1 1
A 3
12 4 4 4
= × 360° = 120° × 12 = 4 cm
4 1 1 1
B 4
12 3 3 3
× 360° = 150° × 12 = 5 cm
5 5 5
C 5
12 12 12
Total 12
• A protractor and a ruler are required to draw these graphs by hand.

796 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 A sector graph

A A divided bar graph

B
5 4 3
A 5 B 4 C 3

Drawing sector graphs and bar graphs using technology

• The quickest and easiest way to create sector graphs and divided bar graphs is to use a spreadsheet such as
Microsoft Excel.
• The following worked examples provide a detailed explanation of how to create sector graphs and divided
bar graphs in Microsoft Excel.

WORKED EXAMPLE 13 Constructing a sector graph

Of 120 people surveyed about where they would prefer to spend their holidays this year, 54 preferred
to holiday in Australia, 41 preferred to travel overseas and 25 preferred to stay at home. Use a
spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel to represent the data as a sector graph.

THINK WRITE
1. Input the data into a spreadsheet
in order from largest category to
smallest category. Put labels along
the top row and numbers along the
second row.

2. Select the data.

3. Click insert, select the Insert Pie or

Doughnut Chart icon then click Pie.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 797

 4. The chart will appear. Chart Title

Australia Overseas At home

5. Rename the chart by clicking Chart Preferred holiday location
Title and writing a name for your
chart.

Australia Overseas At home

6. Click on the Chart Elements in Preferred holiday location

the top right corner and select Data
Labels.

25

54

41

Australia Overseas At home

798 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

WORKED EXAMPLE 14 Constructing a divided bar graph

From a community group, 90 people were surveyed about their favourite weekend activities. Of these,
43 people preferred to go to the beach, 25 preferred to watch sports and 22 preferred to go shopping.
Use a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel to represent the data as a divided bar graph.
THINK WRITE
1. Input the data into a spreadsheet
in order from largest category to
smallest category. Put labels along
the top row and numbers along the
second row.

2. Select the data.

3. Click insert, select the Insert

Column or Bar Chart icon then
click More Column Charts.

4. From the Bar options, select the

second option at the top then click
the second graph and click OK.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 799

 5. The chart will appear.
Chart Title

0 20 40 60 80 100
Beach Sports Shopping

6. Rename the chart by clicking Chart

Favourite weekend activities
Title and writing a name for your
chart.

0 20 40 60 80 100
Beach Sports Shopping

7. Click on the Chart Elements in

Favourite weekend activities
the top right corner and select Data
Labels.

43 25 22

0 20 40 60 80 100
Beach Sports Shopping

Resources
Resourceseses
eWorkbook Topic 14 Workbook (worksheets, code puzzle and project) (ewbk-1915)
Interactivities Individual pathway interactivity: Pie charts and divided bar graphs (int-8473)
Pie graphs (int-4061)

800 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

Exercise 14.7 Pie charts and divided bar graphs
Individual pathways
PRACTISE CONSOLIDATE MASTER
1, 2, 6, 9, 12, 13, 16 4, 5, 7, 10, 14, 17 3, 8, 11, 15, 18

To answer questions online and to receive immediate corrective feedback and fully worked solutions for all
questions, go to your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au.

Fluency
1. A survey was conducted of a group of students to determine their method of transport to school each day. The
following sector graph displays the survey’s results.

Method of transport to school

Bus
17 Walk
25
85
Tram
42
Train
Bike

45 Car
78 Combination
64

a. State the number of students surveyed.

b. State the most common method of transport to school.

2. WE13 The following table shows the different sports played by a group of Year 7 students.
a. Complete the table.
b. Draw a sector graph to display the data.
c. Use technology to represent the data as a sector graph.

Number of Fraction of Angle at centre of

Sport students students circle

× = 110°
55 55 " "2
"
360°
Basketball 55
180 !1
180
! 1
35
Netball 35
180
Soccer 30
Football 60
Total 180

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 801

3. The sector graph shown displays the candidates and Votes received
the percentage of votes received in a community
organisation’s recent election. James (10.2%)
a. State who received the highest number of votes. Samantha (23.8%)
b. State the percentage of votes Paula received. Paula (17.0%)
c. Can this sector graph tell us how many people
voted in the election? Explain your answer.
d. Calculate the size of the angle for the sector
representing Brigid’s votes. Give your answer Ian (27.2%) Brigid (21.8%)
to 2 decimal places.

4. The sector graph shown displays the results of a student

Election results
election.
a. Identify the percentage of votes that went to Danielle.
b. Identify the percentage of votes that went to Andrew.
c. Calculate the percentage of votes that went to Christiana. Andrew
d. Evaluate the total of the percentages. (35%)
e. Using calculations, determine the size of the angle of each
sectors showing the votes for each of the 3 candidates. Danielle
(50%)
Christiana
(?%)

5. For the following table of values showing the type of roofing material used in 36 houses, answer the following
questions.
a. Complete the fraction and angle size columns in the table.
b. Draw a sector graph to display the data.
c. Use technology to represent the data as a sector graph.

Roofing material Number of houses Fraction Angle size (°)

Concrete tiles 12
Terracotta tiles 9
Galvanised iron 6
Colourbond 3
Slate 2
Shingles 4
Total 36

6. The following divided bar graph displays the types of dogs in a dog rescue centre.

Types of dogs in the rescue centre Terrier

Rottweiler
18 12 6 6 3 Labrador
Schnauzer
German Shepherd
a. Based on this graph, calculate the total number of dogs in the rescue centre.
b. Identify the number of Labradors that are in the centre.
c. Identify the number of Rottweilers that are in the centre.
d. Calculate the percentage of the total number of dogs that are terriers.
e. State which type of dog there are the fewest of.

802 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

7. WE14 The following table of values shows the number of kilograms of meat of various types that a butcher
sold in a day.
a. Copy and complete the table of values.
b. Construct a divided bar graph to display the data.
c. Use technology to represent the data as a divided bar graph.

Type of meat Amount sold (kg) Fraction

Lamb 10
Beef 45
Pork 5
Chicken 15
Turkey 10
Rabbit 5
Total 90

8. The students at Mount Birdie Secondary College counted the number of birds that landed on their school oval
on one day. The results are in the following table.

Type of bird Number of birds Fraction

Magpie 24
Crow 12
Cockatoo 12
Wattlebird 6
Rosella 6
Total 60

a. Copy and complete this table.

b. Use technology to represent the data as:
i. a sector graph
ii. a divided bar graph.

Understanding
9. The following table shows the different forms of transport that 100 students use to get to school.
a. Copy the table and complete the Fraction column (the first one has been done for you).
b. Using a total bar length of 10 cm, complete the Length of bar column (the first one has been done
for you).
c. Represent the data as a divided bar graph.
d. If the total bar length was 5 cm (instead of 10 cm) calculate how long the Walk section would be.

Transport Number of students Fraction Length of bar

= × 10 = 5 cm
50 1 1
Walk 50
100 2 2
Car 20
Bus 15
Bike 15
Total 100

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 803

10. The sector graph shown represents the favourite colours of 200 students. The angle of each section is shown.

Green

Purple 45°
45°
180° Blue
90°
Orange

a. Calculate the number of students who said their favourite colour was blue.
b. Calculate the number of students who said their favourite colour was orange.
c. Calculate the number of students who said their favourite colour was purple.

11. The sector graph shown represents the furniture sold at Devin’s Furniture
Land over the period of one week. The total number of sales was 90 items. Desk
Calculate the number of pieces of each furniture item that were sold. Use a
protractor to measure the angles in the sector graph.
Couch
Chair
12. State which type of data is represented by the following graphs:
column and bar graphs, dot plots, stem-and-leaf plots and sector graphs.
Table
Reasoning
13. Discuss the advantage of using a divided bar graph to display categorical data,
rather than a column graph.
14. The following two sector graphs represent the sales at Charlie’s Kiosk. One sector graph is from summer
and one sector graph is from winter.
Graph 1 Graph 2

Ice
Pie cream
Hot
drink
Cold drink Hot drink
Ice cream

Cold drink
Pie

a. State which graph represents the sales from summer.

b. Explain your answer to part a.
15. For the table of values showing the sports played by a group of students, answer the following questions.
a. Complete the angle size column before drawing a sector graph to display the data.
b. In this data we are not told how many students were surveyed.
i. Explain why the data could not represent ten students.
ii. Explain why the data could represent twenty students.

804 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 Sport Percentage of total Angle size (°)
Cricket 20
Hockey 25
Netball 40
Soccer 10
Tennis 5
Total 100

16. Omar is working on his budget. His income is $2000 per month and the following divided bar graph shows
Problem solving

how he is currently spending his money. Omar needs your help to increase the amount he saves.

Rent Utilities Food Entertainment Savings

a. Omar does not want to move house and he cannot change his utility bills. Determine the sections of the
bar graph that must stay the same.
b. Determine the much Omar is currently spending on food and entertainment in total.
c. If Omar halves the amount he spends on food and entertainment and puts that money into savings,
determine how much he would:
i. spend on food
ii. spend on entertainment
iii. put into savings in total each month.

d. Use technology to draw a new divided bar graph showing the changes to Omar’s budget you made in
part c.
17. Beach Brellas Inc. is designing a new beach umbrella using the design shown.
a. Determine the percentage of the umbrella that is blue.
b. Determine the angle for one section of the umbrella.
c. If it takes 1.5 m2 of fabric to make the whole design, determine how much
of each colour fabric is needed to make the design. Give your answer to
three decimal places and include units.

18. The sector graph shown has four sectors representing different amounts.
Starting at the smallest sector, each new sector is double the size of the
1
previous one. Without using a protractor, calculate the third sector as a
2
percentage. Show your working.

4
3

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 805

 14.8 Comparing data
LEARNING INTENTION
At the end of this subtopic you should be able to:
• calculate measures of centre and spread from a graphical display
• identify the most appropriate measure of centre for a graphical display.

14.8.1 Determining measures of centre and spread from graphs

eles-4726
• We have considered the calculation of measures of centre and spread from lists of data.
• We also need to know how to calculate these measures from graphs of individual pieces of data.
• We can then make comparisons between data presented in listed form and data presented in graphical form.
• When data is displayed graphically, the spread may be obvious, but we often need to calculate the
data’s measures of centre so that we can understand it better.
• We also need to be able to determine which measure of centre best represents the data.

Determining the most appropriate measure of centre

• If a set of data contains outliers, the median is the most appropriate measure of centre because outliers
do not affect it, whereas outliers can significantly affect the value of the mean.
• If a set of data does not contain outliers, the mean or median could be used as the measure of centre.
Since the concept of the mean (or average) is more familiar to most people, it is generally used in
preference to the median.
• The mode is not normally considered a good measure of centre because it tells us only about the most
common score.

WORKED EXAMPLE 15 Determining measures of centre and spread from a dot plot

a. Use the dot plot shown to determine the following statistical measures.
i. Mean ii. Median iii. Mode iv. Range
b. Comment on the most suitable measure of centre for the data.
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

a. Sum of values = 16 + 3 × 18 + 4 × 19
THINK WRITE

+ 2 × 20 + 21 + 24
a. i. 1. Determine the sum of the values.

= 231
2. Count the number of values. There are 12 values.

Mean =
sum of data values
3. Calculate the mean by dividing the sum by the
total number of data values

=
total number of values.
231

= 19.25
12

806 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 ii. 1. The values are already in order. The median is The 6th and 7th values are both 19.
the middle value. There are 12 values, so the
middle one is the average of the 6th and 7th
values.
2. Calculate the average of these. The median value is 19.
iii. The mode is the most common value. Look for The mode is 19.

Range = 24 − 16
the one that occurs most frequently.

=8
iv. The range is the difference between the largest
value and the smallest value.
b. The scores 16 and 24 are possible outliers. When b. Since there may be outliers in the data,
a set of data contains outliers the best measure of the median is the most suitable
centre is the median, as it is not affected by outliers measure of centre in this case.
as much as the mean.

WORKED EXAMPLE 16 Determining measures of centre and spread from a stem plot

a. Use the stem plot to determine the following measures of the data. Key: 1|8 = 18
i. Mean
Stem Leaf
ii. Median
1 89
iii. Mode
iv. Range 2 225778
b. Comment on the most suitable measure of centre for the data. 3 01467
4 05

a. i. Sum of values = 18 + 19 + 22 + 22 + 25
THINK WRITE

+ 27 + 27 + 28 + 30 + 31
a. i. 1. Determine the sum of the values.

+ 34 + 36 + 37 + 40 + 45
= 441
2. Count the number of values. There are 15 values.

Mean =
sum of data values
3. Calculate the mean by dividing the sum
total number of data values

=
by the total number of values.
441

= 29.4
15

ii. The values are already in order. The The middle position of the 15 values is the 8th
median is the middle value. There are value. This is 28. The median value is 28.
15 values, so the middle one is the 8th
value. Locate this.
iii. The mode is the most common value. There are two modes (the data set is bimodal):
Look for the one that occurs most 22 and 27.

Range = 45 − 18
frequently.

= 27
iv. The range is the difference between
the largest value and the smallest
value.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 807

 b. Look at the measures of mean, median b. Because there does not appear to be any
and mode to see which best represents outliers, the mean or median could be used
the values in terms of their closeness to to represent the centre of this set of data.
the centre.

Resources
Resourceseses
eWorkbook Topic 14 Workbook (worksheets, code puzzle and project) (ewbk-1915)
Interactivities Individual pathway interactivity: Comparing data (int-4382)
Determining measures of centre and spread from graphs (int-4062)

Exercise 14.8 Comparing data

Individual pathways
PRACTISE CONSOLIDATE MASTER
1, 4, 6, 7, 13, 16 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, 14, 17 3, 11, 12, 15, 18

To answer questions online and to receive immediate corrective feedback and fully worked solutions for all
questions, go to your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au.

Fluency
1. WE15 Consider the dot plot shown.
a. Use the dot plot to determine the following measures of the data.
i. mean ii. median iii. mode iv. range
b. Comment on the most suitable measure of centre for the data. 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87

2. Consider the dot plot shown.

a. Use the dot plot to determine the following measures of the data.
i. mean ii. median iii. mode iv. range
b. Comment on the most suitable measure of centre for the data. 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3.0 3.1

3. Consider the dot plot shown.

a. Use the dot plot to determine the following measures of the data.
i. mean ii. median iii. mode iv. range
b. Disregard the score of 10 and recalculate each of these values. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
c. Discuss the differences/similarities in your two sets of results.

4. WE16 Consider the stem-and-leaf plot shown. Key: 6.1|8 = 6.18

a. Use the stem plot to determine the following measures of the data. Stem Leaf
i. mean 6.1 8 8 9
ii. median 6.2 0 5 6 8
iii. mode 6.3 0 1 2 4 4
iv. range
b. Comment on the most suitable measure of centre for the data.

808 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 5. Consider the stem-and-leaf plot shown. Key: 1|10 = 10
a. Use the stem plot to determine the following measures of the data. Stem Leaf
i. mean 1 02
ii. median 2 1335
iii. mode 3
iv. range 4 4
b. Disregard the score of 44 and recalculate each of these values.
c. Discuss the differences/similarities in your two sets of results.

Understanding
6. MC Select the score that shows up most often.
A. median B. mean C. mode D. average E. frequency

7. MC Select the best term for average in everyday use.

A. the mean B. the mode C. the median D. the total E. none of these

8. MC Choose the measure affected by outliers (extreme values).

A. the middle
B. the mode
C. the median
D. the mean
E. none of these

The back-to-back stem plot shown displays the heights of a group of Year 7 students. Use this plot to answer
questions 9 and 10.

Key: 13 | 7 = 137cm
Leaf (boys) Stem Leaf (girls)
98 13 78
98876 14 356
988 15 1237
7665 16 356
876 17 1

9. MC Select the total number of Year 7 students.

A. 13 B. 17 C. 30 D. 36 E. 27

10. MC Choose the tallest male and shortest female heights.

A. 186 cm and 137 cm
B. 171 cm and 148 cm
C. 137 cm and 188 cm
D. 178 cm and 137 cm
E. None of these

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 809

11. A survey of the number of people in each house in a street produced the
following data:

2, 5, 1, 6, 2, 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 4, 3, 1, 2, 2, 0, 2, 4

a. Prepare a frequency distribution table with an f × x column and use it to

calculate the average (mean) number of people per household.
b. Draw a dot plot of the data and use it to find the median number per
household.
c. Calculate the modal number per household.
d. State which measure of centre (mean, median or mode) would be most
useful to:
i. real estate agents renting out houses
ii. a government population survey
iii. an ice-cream truck owner.

12. The mean of 12 scores is 6.3. Calculate the total of the scores.

Reasoning
13. A class of 26 students had a median mark of 54 in Mathematics, even though no-one actually scored this
result.
a. Explain how this is possible.
b. Explain how many students must have scored below 54.

14. A clothing store records the dress sizes sold during one day in order to work out the most popular sizes. The
results for a particular day are given below.

12, 14, 10, 12, 8, 12, 16, 10, 8, 12, 10, 12, 18, 10, 12, 14
16, 10, 12, 12, 12, 14, 18, 10, 14, 12, 12, 14, 14, 10

Rebecca is in charge of marketing and sales. She uses these figures when ordering future stock. From these
figures she decides on the following ordering strategy. She will order:
• the same number of size 8, 16 and 18 dresses
• three times this number of size 10 and size 14 dresses
• five times as many size 12 dresses as size 8, 16 and 18.
Comment on Rebecca’s strategy.
15. A small business pays these salaries listed below (in thousands of dollars) to its employees.

18, 18, 18, 18, 26, 26, 26, 35

The business owner’s salary is 80 thousand dollars.

a. Determine the wage earned by most workers. Make sure to include the business owner’s salary in this
calculation.
b. Calculate the average wage. Show your working.
c. Calculate the median of the distribution.
d. Explain which measure of centre might be used in salary negotiations by:
i. the union that represents the business’s employees
ii. the business owner.

810 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

Problem solving
16. Five scores have an average of 8.2. Four of those scores are 10, 9, 8 and 7. Determine the fifth score.

17. A tyre manufacturer selects 48 tyres at random from their production line for testing. The total distance
travelled during the safe life of each tyre is shown in the following table.

Distance in km (‘000) 46 50 52 56 78 82
Number of tyres 4 12 16 10 4 2

a. Calculate the mean, median and mode.

b. Explain which measure best describes the average safe
life of these tyres.
c. Recalculate the mean with the 6 longest-lasting tyres
removed. Determine how much it is lowered by.
d. If you selected a tyre at random, determine how long it
would most likely last.
e. In a production run of 10 000 tyres, determine how
many could be expected to last for a maximum of
50 000 km.
f. If you were the tyre manufacturer, explain what kind
of distance guarantee you would be prepared to offer
on your tyres.

18. A soccer team had averaged 2.6 goals per match after 5 matches. After their 6th match the average dropped
to 2.5 goals per match. Determine the number of goals they scored in their 6th match. Show your working.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 811

14.9 Review
14.9.1 Topic summary

Types of data
• There are two main types of data: categorical data and numerical data.

Categorical data Numerical data

Data that can be placed into a group or category Data that can be counted or measured
e.g. Eye colour, gender, shoe size, rating scale • Discrete numerical data can be counted.
(high, medium, low) e.g. The number of people in a room
• Continuous numerical data can be measured.
e.g. A person’s height

Measures of centre
REPRESENTING AND • A measure of centre gives us some idea about the
location of the centre of the data.
INTERPRETING DATA • The three measures of centre are mean, median and mode.
• The mean is commonly referred to as the average.
The symbol used to represent the mean is x̅.
The formula used to calculate the mean is:
Frequency distribution tables sum of data values
x̅ = – .
• Frequency is the number of times a result or piece of total number of data values
data occurs. • The median represents the middle score when the data
• A frequency table shows the score, tally and frequency is ordered from smallest to largest.
in a tabular form.
e.g. 1, 1, 3, 4, 4, 10, 12, 25, 41
Median = 4
e.g. Age group (score) Tally Frequency
• The mode is the most commonly occurring value in a
11–20 |||| 4 data set. Data sets might have one mode, no mode or
21–30 || 2 more than one mode.
31– 40 | 1
Total 7
Comparing data
• By calculating measures of centre, we can make
Representing data graphically comparisons between data sets.
e.g. Mean battery life is higher for brand A batteries than
• There are many types of graphical displays to for brand B so, on average, brand A batteries last longer.
represent data. • When extreme values (outliers) are present in a data set,
• For categorical data the most appropriate graphical the best measure of centre is the median as it is least
displays are: affected by outliers.
• frequency table
• column or bar graph
• sector graph (pie chart)
• divided bar graph.
• For numerical data the most appropriate graphical Measures of spread
displays are:
• A measure of spread tells us how spread out the data is.
• frequency table
• The range is one measure of spread; it is the difference
• dot plot
between the largest and smallest values in that set.
• stem-and-leaf plot.
Range = largest value − smallest value

812 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

14.9.2 Success criteria
Tick the column to indicate that you have completed the subtopic and how well you think you have understood it
using the traffic light system.
(Green: I understand; Yellow: I can do it with help; Red: I do not understand)

Subtopic Success criteria

14.2 I can describe types of data using the key words ‘categorical’ (discrete)
or ‘numerical’ (continuous).

I understand the difference between primary and secondary data.

I can explain why some data is more reliable than other data.

14.3 I can construct a frequency distribution table for a set of data.

I can analyse and report on the information in a frequency distribution

table.

14.4 I can calculate the mean, median and mode of a set of data.

I can calculate the range of a set of data.

14.5 I can display data as a column or bar graph.

I can display data as a dot plot.

I can analyse and interpret column and bar graphs and dot plots.

14.6 I can display data as a stem-and-leaf plot.

I can analyse and interpret stem-and-leaf plots.

14.7 I can display data as a sector graph (pie chart).

I can display data as a divided bar graph.

I can analyse and interpret sector and divided bar graphs.

14.8 I can calculate measures of centre and spread from a graphical display.

I can identify the most appropriate measure of centre for a graphical

display of data.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 813

14.9.3 Project
Families with children
Surveys help us to find out about lots of different things. They can be conducted by collecting information
from an entire population or smaller groups. The information collected in a survey, known as data, can
be examined and presented in many different ways. Graphs are commonly used to present the results of a
survey.

The graph shown displays the percentage of families in Family composition

Australia with children under the age of 15. This data is Four or more
taken from the 2011 census. children
2.5%
1. State the type of graph that has been used to display the Three children
information. 7.4%
2. State the most common category of Australian families Two children
with children under 15. 19.4%
No children
3. Give an example of another type of graph that could be 52.3%
used to present this information.
One child
Conduct your own survey of the number of children under 18.4%
15 in your classmates’ families. Compare your results with
the results of the 2011 census.
4. Record your survey results in the following frequency distribution table.

Number of children Tally Frequency Percentage

1
2
3
4 or more
Total

5. Is the survey you conducted an example of a census (contains the entire population) or a sample
(contains only a portion of the entire population)? Explain your answer.
6. Explain whether the data you collected is classified as categorical data or numerical data.
7. Present the information from your survey as a column graph. Use the percentage values on the vertical
axis and number of children on the horizontal axis.
8. Explain how the results of your class compare with the results obtained in the 2011 census. Discuss the
major difference between these two sets of results.
9. Design and conduct a new survey on a topic of interest (choose the topic as a class). You can survey
members of your class on this topic or expand it to include a larger target audience. Present your data as
a poster that displays the findings of your survey using an appropriate style of graph.

Resources
Resourceseses
eWorkbook Topic 14 Workbook (worksheets, code puzzle and project) (ewbk-1915)
Interactivities Crossword (int-2608)
Sudoku puzzle (int-3174)

814 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

Exercise 14.9 Review questions

To answer questions online and to receive immediate corrective feedback and fully worked solutions for
all questions, go to your learnON title at www.jacplus.com.au.

Fluency
1. Identify whether the following statement is true or false.
The classification of data describing the number of iPhones sold during the year is continuous.

2. State whether the data that describes a person’s mass (in kilograms) is categorical, discrete or
continuous.

3. State whether the data that describes sandwich types at a takeaway outlet is categorical, discrete or
continuous.

4. Eighty students in a school of 800 participated in a survey to find their favourite drinks. The results
were: Coke 20, Pepsi 14, other soft drink 10, milk/milk-based 16, coffee 9, tea 4 and fruit juice 7.
a. Identify the most popular beverage. b. Identify the least popular beverage.

5. Use the frequency distribution table shown to answer the following questions.

Score Frequency
13 2
14 9
15 3
16 5
17 6
18 1

a. Calculate the number of students in the class.

b. State the most frequent score.
c. State the least frequent score.
d. Determine the number of students who scored 15 or less.
e. Determine the number of students who scored at least 16.

6. A random sample of 24 families was surveyed to determine the number of vehicles in each household.
The following list is the raw data.

2, 0, 3, 2, 1, 0, 2, 3, 4, 2, 2, 1, 0, 1, 3, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 2, 2, 3, 3

a. Organise the data into a frequency distribution table.

b. Identify the number of families who have no vehicles in their household.
c. Determine the number of families who have two or more vehicles in their household.
d. Identify the score that has the highest frequency.
e. State the highest score.
f. Calculate the fraction of families who had two vehicles in their household.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 815

 7. For the following sets of data, determine the following.
i. the mean ii. the mode iii. the median
a. 4, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2, 3 b. 2, 4, 2, 4, 3, 7, 4 c. 4, 5, 6, 6, 5, 5, 3
d. 1, 2, 1, 4, 1, 5, 1 e. 5, 8, 1, 7, 7, 5, 2, 7, 5, 5 f. 1, 5, 8, 7, 4, 8, 5, 6, 8

8. The graph shown displays the test marks of a group of students.

Science marks

100

80

Mark (%) 60

40

20

e
hn

o
r

y
ul

rg
te

ng
ar

Jo
Pa
Pe

eo
M

Ri
G
Student names
a. State the label on the horizontal axis.
b. State the scale used on the vertical axis.
c. State the name of the student with the highest mark.
d. Determine which student(s) would have failed if the pass mark was 50%.
e. Identify Paul’s mark.
f. Identify George’s mark.

9. Look at the following graph, showing air quality.

Air quality index recorded in 3 regions during a week

Eastern region
Very poor
Western region
Northern region
Poor
Air quality

Fair

Good

Very good

Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Day

a. State what the horizontal axis represents.

b. State what the vertical axis represents.
c. Identify the region with a rating that ranged from very good to good every day.
d. Determine the day when the Western region had a fair to poor air quality rating.
e. Determine the region with a rating that ranged from good to fair every day.

816 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

10. a. The following data gives the speed of 30 cars recorded by a roadside speed camera along a stretch of
road where the speed limit is 80 km/h.

75, 90, 83, 92, 103, 96, 110, 92, 102, 93, 78, 94, 104, 85, 88,
82, 81, 115, 94, 84, 87, 86, 96, 71, 91, 91, 92, 104, 88, 97

Present the data as an ordered stem-and-leaf plot.

b. Comment on the data recorded by the roadside speed camera.

11. Complete the specified tasks for the given sets of data.

Set A 64 30 59 1 57 13 45 28
Set B 3 41 38 68 29 32 30 31

a. Construct a back-to-back stem plot of the two sets of data.

b. For each data set, determine the:
i. lowest score ii. highest score iii. mean iv. median v. range.
c. Compare the two data sets.

12. Consider the dot plot shown, which represents the number of soft drinks sold at lunchtime over a
20-day period from a vending machine in a school cafeteria in the USA.

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

a. Use the dot plot to determine the following.

i. mean ii. median iii. mode iv. range
b. Comment on the distribution of the data.

13. Consider the stem plot shown, which represents

the ages of participants in an aerobics class at a
gym.

Key: 1|7 = 17
Stem Leaf
1 47889
2 0135679
3 245678
4 25
5 3
a. Use the graph to determine the:
i. mean age
ii. median age
iii. modal age
iv. range of ages.
b. Comment on the distribution of the data.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 817

 14. A group of 150 people were surveyed about what they had for breakfast that morning. Of the people
surveyed, 62 had cereal, 70 had toast, 12 had a cooked breakfast and 6 had no breakfast. Use
technology to represent the data as a sector graph.

15. Use technology to draw a divided bar chart to display the following data.

Hobby Percentage of total

Stamp collecting 20
Photography 15
Sailboarding 20
Skateboarding 30
Model making 15
Total 100

Problem solving
16. This table shows the maximum and minimum daily temperatures in a city over a one-week period.

Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Maximum (°C) 12 13 10 11 9 10 8
Minimum (°C) 3 3 2 1 0 4 2

Use the table to answer the following questions.

a. State the maximum temperature on day 3.
b. State the day that had the lowest minimum temperature.
c. Determine the coldest day.
d. Identify the day that had the warmest overnight temperature.
e. Calculate the temperature range (variation) on day 2.
f. Determine the day that had the smallest range of temperatures.

The table shown is part of a teacher’s mark book. Use it to answer questions 17 and 18.
Name Test 1 Test 2
John 85 94
Peter 85 63
Mark 95 58
James 82 67
David 76 95
Rachel 62 85
Mary 87 75
Eve 94 63
Esther 68 68

17. a. Calculate the class mean for test 1.

b. Calculate the class mean for test 2.
c. Identify the test in which the class received better marks.
d. Determine the number of students who scored above the mean in test 1.
e. Determine the number of students who scored above the mean in test 2.

818 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

18. a. Determine the mode score for test 1.
b. Determine the mode score for test 2.
c. Determine the median score for test 1.
d. Determine the median score for test 2.
e. Calculate the mean score for the two tests for each student and list them.
f. Determine the range of values for these means.

19. The results of height measurements (in cm) for the students in class 9A are given below.

145, 152, 148, 152, 163, 148, 165, 158, 159, 162, 145, 153, 156, 158, 157,
159, 169, 156, 156, 156, 152, 154, 128, 141, 154, 153, 156, 156, 165, 168

a. Calculate the range of heights.

b. Calculate the mean height of the class.
c. Determine the mode for the heights.
d. Determine the median height of the class.
e. Explain whether these three values (mean, mode, median)
are similar.

20. Use the table of values shown to answer the following questions.

Month Number of files (thousands)

January 24
February 28
March 26
April 20
May 18
June 15
July 12
August 10
September 11
October 12
November 15
December 19

a. State what would be on the horizontal axis in drawing a column graph using this data.
b. State what would be on the vertical axis in drawing a column graph.
c. Identify the minimum value required on the vertical axis.
d. Identify the maximum value required on the vertical axis.
e. Determine the scale that should be used for the vertical axis.
f. Draw a column graph to display the data.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 819

 21. The number of pets cared for by each of 20 families
was surveyed, giving the following data.
1, 2, 3, 2, 0, 1, 0, 2, 5, 3, 2, 1, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 3, 2, 1

a. Organise the data into a frequency distribution

table.
b. Draw a dot plot of the data and comment on the
distribution.
c. Calculate the mode, median and mean.

22. a. For the given set of scores 9, 3, 8, 5, 6, 9, 4, 5, 5, 25, determine the following.
i. mode
ii. median
iii. mean
iv. outliers (if any)
v. mean when outliers are omitted
vi. mean and median when 10 is added to each of the given scores
b. Comment on any discoveries from part a.

23. This back-to-back stem-and-leaf plot shows the

heights of a group of boys and girls.
Key: 13 ∣ 7 = 137 cm
Leaf (boys) Stem Leaf (girls)
98 13 78
98876 14 356
988 15 1237
7665 16 356
876 17 1
Give a full description of the heights of the boys and the girls.

To test your understanding and knowledge of this topic, go to your learnON title at
www.jacplus.com.au and complete the post-test.

820 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

Online Resources Resources

Below is a full list of rich resources available online for this topic. These resources are designed to bring ideas to life,
to promote deep and lasting learning and to support the different learning needs of each individual.

eWorkbook 14.8 Individual pathway interactivity: Comparing data

(int-4382) ⃞
Download the workbook for this topic, which includes Determining measures of centre and spread from
worksheets, a code puzzle and a project (ewbk-1915) ⃞ graphs (int-4062) ⃞
14.9 Crossword (int-2608) ⃞
Solutions Sudoku puzzle (int-3174) ⃞
Download a copy of the fully worked solutions to every
question in this topic (sol-0703) ⃞ Teacher resources
Digital documents There are many resources available exclusively for teachers
online.
14.2 SkillSHEET Distinguishing discrete from continuous
data (doc-6579) ⃞
14.4 SkillSHEET Finding the mean of ungrouped data
(doc-6580) ⃞
SkillSHEET Finding the median (doc-6581) ⃞

Video eLessons
14.2 How to classify data (eles-4716) ⃞
Primary and secondary data (eles-4717) ⃞
14.3 Frequency distribution tables (eles-4718) ⃞
14.4 Measures of centre (eles-4719) ⃞
Measures of spread (eles-4720) ⃞
14.5 Column and bar graphs (eles-4721) ⃞
Dot plots (eles-4723) ⃞
14.6 Stem-and-leaf plots (eles-4724) ⃞
14.7 Sector graphs and divided bar graphs (eles-4725) ⃞
14.8 Determining measures of centre and spread from
graphs (eles-4726) ⃞

Interactivities
14.2 Individual pathway interactivity: Classifying data
(int-7045) ⃞
14.3 Individual pathway interactivity: Displaying data in
tables (int-4379) ⃞
Frequency distribution tables (int-4051) ⃞
14.4 Individual pathway interactivity: Measures of centre
and spread (int-4380) ⃞
Measures of centre (int-4052) ⃞
Mean (int-4053) ⃞
Median (int-4054) ⃞
Mode (int-4055) ⃞
Range (int-4056) ⃞
14.5 Individual pathway interactivity: Column graphs and
dot plots (int-8471) ⃞
Representing data graphically (int-4057) ⃞
Column and bar graphs 1 (int-4058) ⃞
Column and bar graphs 2 (int-4059) ⃞
14.6 Individual pathway interactivity: Stem-and-leaf plots
(int-8472) ⃞
Stem-and-leaf plots (int-4060) ⃞
14.7 Individual pathway interactivity: Pie charts and divided
bar graphs (int-8473) ⃞
Pie graphs (int-4061) ⃞

To access these online resources, log on to www.jacplus.com.au.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 821

Answers b. Primary data is data collected by me, for example a
survey I conduct, and secondary data is data collected
by someone else, for example AFL/NRL data.
Topic 14 Representing and 10. In a Likert scale the data is split into categories, so even
interpreting data though these categories can be represented by numbers, the
Exercise 14.1 Pre-test data is still categorical.
11. Although represented by digits, these types of data are
1. B
categorical because they do not represent numerical ordered
2. A values.
3. 3 12. Many possible answers. Some ideas: small amount of
4. B data; the company is motivated to find that soft drink is
5. 31 healthy.
6. 10 13. Possible answers:
7. 19 m a. How many minutes, on average, do you read per day?

8. 9 b. How many times a week do you play sport?

9. 20% c. How many times a week do you play computer games?

10. 2.55 14. Possible answers:

a. Do you do Maths homework every night?
11. 17
b. What books have you read this year?
12. 41 cm
c. What suburb do you live in?
13. 111
14. a. 150 b. 45 15. 1250
c. 8% d. 50% 16. a. Primary data

15. 24% b. 5 is a small amount of data

c. Data unreliable because Bill is motivated to get a certain
Exercise 14.2 Collecting and classifying data result.
1. a. v b. i d. More reliable because there is more data and there is no
c. iv d. iii motivation to get a certain result.
e. vi f. ii
2. a. Numerical (discrete) Exercise 14.3 Displaying data in tables
b. Categorical
1. a.
Score Tally Frequency
∥#
∥
c. Numerical (continuous)
Numerical (continuous)
||||
d. 0 5
#
e. Categorical 1 4
||||
#||||
f. Numerical (continuous)
2 9
||||
#||
3. a. Discrete b. Continuous c. Discrete #

||
d. Continuous e. Discrete 3 # 7
4. a. Categorical 4 2
b. Categorical 5 | 1
c. Numerical (continuous) 6 | 1
d. Numerical (discrete) 7 0
e. Categorical 8 | 1
f. Categorical Total 30
5. a. primary data b. secondary data
b. 30
6. True
c. 5
7. True
d. 12
8. C
e. 2

=
9. a. Discrete data deals with values that are exact and must
2 1
be counted, for example the number of people at a f.
football match. Continuous data deals with values that 30 15
are measured and may be written in decimal form, for
example the length of each football quarter.

822 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

2. a. c.

|
Value Score Tally Frequency
(thousand
|
45 1
dollars) Tally Frequency
46 1
100–109 ||| 3

||
47 0
110–119 | 1

|
48 2
120–129 0

||
49 1
130–139 | 1

||
140–149 ||| 3 50 2

∥ ||
150–159 ||| 3 51 2

||||
160–169 2 52 2
170–179 | 1
|||
53 4
180–189 || 2

|
54 3
190–199 | 1

||
55 1
200–209 | 1

||
56 2
Total 18

||
57 2

$100 000 − $109 999, $140 000 −

b. 18
|
58 2

$149 999 and $150 000 − $159 999

c.

||
59 1

$120 000 − $129 999

60 2
d.
e. 3 Total 28
3. a. 33 b. 3 c. 10
1 d.
d. 23 e.

||
Score Tally Frequency
3
143 2
||||
#|
4. a.

|
Score Tally Frequency 144 6
||||
#

||
5 1
|
145 ## 5

||
6 2
|||
146 1

|
7 2
|||
147 3

|||
8 1
|||
148 3

|
9 3
||||
149 3
10 1 150 4
Total 10
|
151 0
152 1
b. Total 28
Score Tally Frequency
0 ||||
# 5 The list is messy. It is difficult to see how many different
||||
# 5. a.
sports there are or to tell how many people prefer a
1 # 5
||||
# particular sport.

||
2 #
# 5

||
3 2
4 2
5 0
6 | 1
Total 20

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 823

 b. 8. a.

|||
Score Tally Frequency Type Tally Frequency
||||
#|||
||||
Hockey 8 1-bedroom unit 3
||||
#|
#

|
Cricket 6 2-bedroom unit 4

||||
#||
#
2-bedroom house 1
||||
Tennis 7
||||
#||||
#

||
3-bedroom house $ 6
Netball 9
||||
#||
#
4-bedroom house 2

||||
Swimming # 7
Total 16

|||
Golf 4
Scuba 3 A 3-bedroom house was the most popular.

||||
diving b. C

||
Lacrosse 4 c. A

Lawn 2 9. B
bowls 10. Because it makes it easier to collect and read the data.
Total 50 11. When selecting a class interval we need to select ranges that
are narrow enough to highlight variations in the data, and
c. i. Netball that are also wide enough to ensure the amount of data we
ii. Lawn bowls are looking at is manageable.
d. Yes, Tennis and swimming had a frequency of 7, and 12. Class intervals can be used to group continuous numerical
golf and lacrosse had a frequency of 4. data so that it can be represented in tables and other
graphical forms.
6. a. 13. a. 25
Score Tally Frequency
|||| ||||
|
0 ##
# # 11 b.
Number %

|||| ||||
of pets Frequency Frequency
1 ## # 10
||||
#|
# 0 8 32

||
2 # 6 1 11 44
2 3 12
|
3 2
4 1 3 2 8
4 0 0
Total 30
5 1 4
b. 11
c. 6
c. 9
14. O: 21.5%, U: 8.3%
d. 0
e. 4
15.
1 Score Frequency
f.
5 0 4
7. 1 16

||
Height Tally Frequency 2 20
140–144 2
||||
#|
3 4
4 1
||||
145–149 # 6
Total 45
|
150–154 4
155–159 1
160–164 ||||
# 5
||||
#|
#

||
165–169 # 6

|
170–174 2

|
175–179 1
180–184 1
Total 28

824 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

Exercise 14.4 Measures of centre and spread 26. a. 1.75 m
1. a. 5 b. 6 c. 4 b. 2.21 m
d. 6 e. 4 c. Based on her past performances and her past range of
2. a. 3 b. 12 c. 14 values, she cannot jump this high.
d. 15 e. 13 27. 72
3. a. 3 b. 3 c. 4 28. 89.5%
d. 5 e. 2 f. 3 29. The coach’s statement was not correct.
4. a. 5 b. 3 c. 3 d. 7 30. One possible answer is 5, 6, 12, 13, 14. If the 5 numbers
5. a. 11 b. 4 c. 2.5 d. 1.5
are in ascending order, the 3rd number must be 12 and the
other 4 numbers must add up to 38.
6. a. 2 b. 5 c. 7 d. 2.5
31. The highest score is 49 and the lowest score is 0. The scores
7. a. 5 b. 6 c. 7.5 d. 7.5
would be 0, 1, 12, 13, 49
8. a. 4 b. 8 c. 2
32. a. 15
d. 4 e. 2
b. 3
9. a. 3 b. 10 and 12 c. 4
c. 0
d. 9 e. no mode
d. The median is the best measure because the mode is the
10. a. 32 b. 24.1 lowest of all scores and the mean is inflated by one much
11. B larger figure.
12. B 33. 133 cm, 133 cm, 142 cm, 151 cm
13. D 34. Largest value for the median is 15. Scores would be
14. D 0, 2, 15, 16, 17 or 0, 1, 15, 16, 18. Smallest value for

a + b = 47
15. C the median is 2. Scores would be 0, 1, 2, a, b, where
16. 85%
35. 43; highest score: 100; lowest score: 57. The scores would
17. 38
be 57, 77, 78, 79, 80, 97, 98, 99, 100
18. 104 shoes
19. 47 students Exercise 14.5 Column graphs and dot plots
20. a. The average number of goals scored in each match, 1. Method of transport
calculated by summing the total number of goals scored used to go to school
and dividing by the number of matches played.
No. of people

20
b. The average house price, calculated by listing all of 15
the house prices and finding the value that has the 10
5
same number of houses being more expensive and less 0
expensive than it.
Bi s
r
am

e
Ca

Bu

cl
ai

cy
Tr
Tr

c. The most popular shoe size.

Types of transport
21. By calculating measures of centre and spread we can see
how data is grouped around a central point. This allows us 2. Mean daily maximum
Temperature (˚C)

to see any patterns in the data and interpret those patterns. temperatures, Cairns
33
22. a. 101.9
31
b. Both the mode (115) and median (112) give a better 29
impression of how the team has performed, even though 27
they could give a ‘misleading’ impression of the team’s 25
br ry
M ary
A ch
M il
Ju y
ne
Se Au uly
em st
N Oct ber
D em er
em er
r

a. Mode = 12
be
a

performance.
pr

pt gu

ov ob
ec b
Fe ua

ar
u

J
n
Ja

23.
Months
b. The mode shows which size to order more of. The mean
and median would not show the more common sizes and 3. Students absent
would give only an indication of the middle of the range.
Mon
24. We cannot calculate the mean, median and range of Tues
categorical data, because these values are all calculated Wed
using the numerical values of the variables. We can Thur
calculate the mode of categorical data, which is the most Fri

a. Tom: $1.30, Sarah: $1.27

Mon
popular or frequency category.
Tues
25. Wed
b. Sarah’s sells cheaper petrol. Thur
Fri
c. Tom may have seen the price on a very expensive day.
There’s a greater range of values at Sarah’s petrol 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Number of students
station.

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 825

4. a. 10. Column and bar graphs have discrete columns and bars,
which are perfect for representing categorical data. There
are often better graphs for displaying numerical data.
6 7 8 9 1011121314151617181920
11. a–d. Generally, outliers affect the mean and range, have
b. The scores lie between and include 6 to 20; that is, a little effect on the median, and have no effect on
range of fourteen. the mode.
Mostly 16 to 18 packets were sold. Sales of 6 and 20
12. a.
packets of chips were extremely low. A provision of 20
packets of chips each day should cover the most extreme
demands. Blue

Eye colour
5. a.
Brown

0 1 2 3 4 5
Green
b.
Hazel
18 19 20 21 22
c. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
5.0 5.2 5.4 5.6 5.8 6.0 Number of students
5.1 5.3 5.5 5.7 5.9 b. The data is categorical, not numerical. Therefore there is
no median.
d.
c. Brown

≈ 43%
10
48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 d.
6. a. Months 23
13. a. Test results
b. Bill total
Class A
c. Every 3 months (quarterly)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
d. January 2021 Class B

e. A graph like this is useful to monitor the spending pattern b. Class A: Mean 5.5, median 5.5, no mode, range 9; Class
over time and to decide whether there have been any B: Mean 4.3, median 3.5, modes 2, 3 and 4, range 9
unusual increases. c. Class A has a higher mean and median than Class B,
f. It would not be normal, but there might be reasons to while the range is the same for both classes. The results
explain why it was so much higher, for example making a for Class A are scattered throughout the whole range,
lot of overseas phone calls. while those for Class B are concentrated more towards
7. a. i. 45 the lower end of the range.
ii. 42 14. a. 35

F = 25 + 5w
iii. 61 b. Each week the number of fridges sold increases by 5.

F = 25 + 5(10)
b. 5 and 11 c.

= 25 + 50
c. It does indicate an improvement, despite these two d.

= 75
low weeks, because there is an overall upward trend
throughout the time period.
8. a. Betty
Exercise 14.6 Stem-and-leaf plots
Key: 2|7 = 27
b. 1 April: 70 m, 29 April: 73 m
c. Rachel 1.
d. Yes. Sarah remained the same. Sumira and Paula sprinted Stem Leaf
at a slower pace. 2 11558899
e. Yes, the graph could be misleading because the vertical 3 11379
scale begins at 30 m and not at 0 m. If the vertical scale 4 01167
was not read properly, it might appear that the students 5 13348
covered a greater distance in a shorter period of time.
6 2222778
f. The graph’s vertical axis starts at 30 m because no-one
7 12338
ran less than that distance and the teacher wanted to use
8 12
all the space to show small differences in the distances.
9 233
9. By aligning the data points neatly above the value they are
representing, these data points cannot be mistakenly seen as
representing any other value. A dot plot is also neater and
easier to interpret.

826 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

2. Key: 3|6 = 36 d. Key: 65|2 = 652
Stem Leaf Stem Leaf
0 0123678 64 1577
1 022224566789 65
2 12578 66 2
3 11223 67 5
4 0 68 5

Key: 12|7 = 127

69 1
3. a. 70 8
Stem Leaf 71
10 8 72
11 678 73 56
12 9 74 8

Key: 1|7 = 1.7

13 27
14 5 4. a.

15 2 Stem Leaf
16 45 1 279
17 2 2 238
18 9 3 9

Key: 13|2 = 132

4 16
b. 5 48

Key: 6|7 = 6.7

Stem Leaf
11 4 b.

12 4 Stem Leaf
13 01 6 059
14 6 7 457
15 02 8 348
16 9 238

Key: 13|7 = 13.7

17 13

Key: 23|7 = 237

c.
c. Stem Leaf
Stem Leaf 13 0899
19 0 14 3556778
20 578 15 12679
21 16 2

Key: 1|5 = 0.15

22 5
23 79 d.
24 4888 Stem Leaf
25 5 0 27
1 58
2
3 7
4 4
5 1
6 7

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 827

 Key: 0|2 = 2 7F: mean = 77, median = 80.5
7G: mean = 78, median = 78
5. b.

Leaf (Mitch) Stem Leaf (Yani)

c. Since class 7F has two outliers, the best measure of
3211110000 0 0011111222
centre is the median, not the mean.
Mitch scored between 0 and 3 goals inclusive. 12. a. 55 b. 43 c. 26
Yani scored between 0 and 2 goals inclusive. 13. a. Temperatures (ºC)
6. a. Mitch: 2, Yani: 3 Key: 2 | 1 = 21ºC
b. Mitch Leaf (City A) Stem Leaf (City B)
c. Yani: 11 1 223337
d. Yani, as he scored goals in more games. 95431 2 0

City A: range = 15, median = 25, mean = 26.9, there is

7. a. 22 b. 17 60 3
c. 64 d. 13 b.

Key: 10|8 = 10.8 City B: range = 8, median = 13, mean = 14.3,

e. 42 f. 0 no mode.

mode = 13.
8. a.

Stem Leaf
c. In February the northern hemisphere is in winter and
10 89 the southern hemisphere is in summer. Looking at
11 0258 the answers to part b City A has a higher mean and
12 045688 median temperature, so is most likely in the southern
13 26699 hemisphere. City B has a lower mean and median, so is
14 01 in the northern hemisphere.

Key: 3|2 = 32
15 0

Range = 4.2 There is a reasonably large range of sprint

14. a.
b.
times in this sample. Leaf (9A) Stem Leaf (9B)
c. The majority of these runners completed the 100 m
2 3
sprint between 11 and 13.9 seconds. The average sprint 9 4 6
time was 12.68 s and the distribution is approximately 74 5 5
evenly spread around the middle. 87550 6 028
9. Stem plots need a key because these plots can show a 3 7 334578
variety of data, ranging from whole numbers to decimals. 5 8 1

a stem plot key showing data could be 15|1 = 151 while

A key helps to show what the data represents. For example, 6 9

a stem plot key showing decimals could be 11|1 = 11.1. b. 9A: 83%; 9B: 92%
In these examples, the number on the leaf represents units
c. 9A: 2
(in the first example) and decimal values (in the second
d. For class 9A, exam marks are quite spread out overall,
example).
but there is a cluster of students scoring in the 60% range.
10. By ordering a dot plot it is easy to identify key values, for
For class 9B, the spread of exam marks is smaller — they
example the median, the lowest value and the highest value.
are generally clustered in the 70% range.
By aligning the data values we can easily see how many
e. See the dot plot at the foot of the page.*
values lie in each class interval. We can also see the shape
of the data. f. The dot plot tells a slightly different story than the stem-
11. a.
and-leaf plot. For class 9A there appears to be 3 outliers
Test scores (%) (32%, 85% and 96%). This was not apparent in the stem-
Key: 5|6 = 56%
and-leaf plot. The results do not seem clustered around
Leaf (Class 7F) Stem Leaf (Class 7G) any particular percentage range. For class 9B there is one
31 4 clear outlier (there are possibly more) at 46%. The results
5 still appear clustered in the 70% range.
6 68
9877 7 456688
854210 8 022359
21 9

*14. e.

32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96
33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95
Percentages

828 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

Exercise 14.7 Pie charts and divided bar graphs 5. a.
Roofing Number of Angle size
1. a. 356 b. Bus material houses Fraction (°)
1
2. a. Concrete tiles 12 120
Number Fraction 3
of of Angle at centre of 1
Sport students students circle Terracotta tiles 9 90
4

× = 110°
2 "" 1
55 55 360°
55 Galvanised iron 6 60
180 ! !
1 180 1 6
Basketball

× = 70°
2 ! 1
35 35 !
360 Colourbond 3 30
Netball 35 12
180 ! !
180 1

× = 60°
1
2 !
30 30 !
360 Slate 2
18
20
Soccer 30
180 ! !
180 1
1
× = 120°
2 ! Shingles 4 40
60 60 !
360 9
Football 60
180 ! !
180 1 Total 36 1 360
Total 180
b. Roofing materials
b, c Sports played by Year 7 students
Shingles (4)
30
Slate (2)
60
Colourbond (3) Concrete
Football tiles (12)
35 Basketball
Galvanised
Netball iron (6)
Soccer
Terracotta tiles (9)
6. a. 45
55
b. 6
3. a. Ian
c. 12
b. 17%
d. 40%
c. No, this sector graph gives percentages only, not actual
values or numbers of people who voted. e. German Shepherd
d. 78.48°
7. a.
4. a. 50% Type of Amount
b. 35% meat sold (kg) Fraction
c. 15% 1
Lamb 10
d. 100% 9
e. i. 180° ii. 126° iii. 54° 1
Beef 45
2
1
Pork 5
18
1
Chicken 15
6
1
Turkey 10
9
1
Rabbit 5
18
Total 90 1

b, c See the figure at the foot of the page.*

*7b, c. Type of meat sold Beef

Chicken
45 15 10 10 5 5
Lamb
Turkey
Pork
Rabbit

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 829

8. a. c. Modes of transport to school
Type of Number
bird of birds Fraction
2
Magpie 24
5 50 20 15 15
1
Crow 12
5
1
Cockatoo 12 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
5
Walk Car Bus Bike
1
Wattlebird 6 d. 2.5 cm
10
10. a. 100 b. 50 c. 25
1
Rosella 6 11. Chair: 40; Table: 28; Couch: 12; Desk: 10.
10
12. Categorical data: column and bar graphs and sector graphs
Total 60
Numerical data: dot plots, stem-and-leaf plots
b. i. Birds seen on school oval 13. A divided bar graph gives a graphical representation of the
proportion of each category as a percentage of the whole.
6 14. a. Graph 1
Magpie b. In graph 1 there was a much greater proportion of ice
6
Crow creams and cold drinks sold than pies and hot drinks. Ice
24 creams and cold drinks would be much more popular in
Cockatoo
Wattlebird summer than pies and hot drinks.
12
Rosella
15. a.
12 Percentage of Angle
Sport total size (°)
Cricket 20 72
ii. Birds seen on school oval Hockey 25 90
Netball 40 144
Soccer 10 36
24 12 12 6 6 Tennis 5 18
Total 100 360

Sports
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Tennis (5)
Magpie Crow Cockatoo Wattlebird Rosella Soccer (10) Cricket (20)
9. a, b

Number Hockey (25)

of Netball (40)
Transport students Fraction Length of bar b. i.If there were only 10 students in the class, each
= × 10 = 5 cm
50 1 1 student would represent 10% of the class total. It
Walk 50
100 2 2 would therefore be impossible for only 5% of the

= × 10 = 2 cm
20 1 1 class to play tennis.
Car 20 ii. If there were 20 students in the class, each student
100 5 5

= × 10 =
15 3 3 would represent 5% of the class total. Since all of the
Bus 15 percentages for the sports are multiples of 5% , this is
100 20 20
1.5 cm a plausible scenario.

= × 10 = b. $800
15 3 3 16. a. Rent and utilities
Bike 15
c. i. $200 ii. $200 iii. $500
100 20 20
1.5 cm
Total 100

830 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

 d. Omar’s new budget b.

700 400 200 200 500

0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Rent Utilities Food Entertainment Savings Number of people
in household
17. a. 25% b. 45° c. 0.375 m2

18. 26 %
c. 2
2 d. i. Median ii. Mean iii. Mode
3 12. 75.6
Exercise 14.8 Comparing data 13. a. The median was calculated by taking the average of the
2 middle scores.
1. a. i.82.4
b. 13
ii. 82
14. Rebecca’s strategy seems reasonable. Sample responses can
iii. 81

15. a. $18 000

be found in the worked solutions in your online resources.
iv. 9

b. $29 444
b. The mean, median and mode are all quite close, so any

c. $26 000
could be used as a measure of centre.
2. a. i. 2.63
d. i. Mode ii. Mean
ii. 2.55
16. 7
iii. 2.4
17. a. 55 250 km, 52 000 km, 52 000 km
iv. 0.7
b. The median would be a better measure of centre because
b. This distribution is quite spread out, with a significant
it will be less affected by the outliers in the data than the
number at the lower end and towards the top. For this
mean.
reason the mode is probably the best measure of centre.
3. a. i. 4.5 ii. 5 iii. 5 iv. 10
c. 51 810 km; It is reduced by 3440 km
d. 52 000 km
b. i. 4.1 ii. 5 iii. 5 iv. 7
e. 3333
The mean and range are affected by the outlier. The
c.
median and mode have not been affected. f. 50 000 km; 92% last that distance or more.
4. a. i. 6.26 ii. 6.27 18. 2
iii. 6.18 and 6.34 iv. 0.16
Project
The mean or median would probably be the best
b.
measures of centre in this case. 1. Sector graph
5. a. i. 22.6 ii. 23 iii. 23 iv. 34 2. Families with no children in this age range is the most
common category.
b. i. 19 ii. 22 iii. 23 iv. 15
3. Column or bar graph
c. The mean and range are most affected by the outlier.
4. Responses will vary depending on the students surveyed.
The median is affected slightly, while the mode is not
affected. Here is a sample response.
6. C

||||||
Number of children Tally Frequency Percentage
7. A

|||||||||||
8. D
1 6 24%

|||||
9. C 2 11 44%

|||
10. D 2 5 20%
Freq. ×
score f × x
11. a. 4 or more 3 12%
Score x Frequency f Total 25
0 1 0
1 3 3
2 6 12
3 3 9
4 3 12
5 1 5
6 1 6

n = 18 ∑ fx = 47

Mean ≈ 2.6

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 831

5. Sample (the entire population was not surveyed) 9. a. Days of week b. Air quality rating
6. Numerical data c. Northern region d. Wednesday
Eastern region
Key: 3|6 = 36
7. Responses will vary depending on the students surveyed. The e.
following is a sample response. 10. a.
Percentage of households with x number of Stem Leaf
children under the age of 15
7 158
Percentage of households (%)

50
45 8 123456788
40 9 011222344667
35
30 10 2344
25 11 05
20
15
10
b. Only 3 cars were travelling under the 80 km/h speed
5 limit. The slowest speed recorded was 71 km/h, while
0 the fastest speed recorded was 115 km/h. Most of the
1 2 3 4 or more
recorded speeds were in the 90–99 km/h class interval.
Number of children under the age of 15 The most common (modal) speed recorded was 92 km/h.
Key: 3|1 = 31
8. Responses will vary depending on the students surveyed.
11. a.
One major difference will be that none of the households
surveyed have 0 children under 15 years as they all contain Leaf Set A Stem Leaf Set B
at least 1 Year 7 student. This is a major variation from the 1 0 3
census data. 3 1
9. Responses will vary depending on the survey undertaken by 8 2 9
the student. 0 3 0128
5 4 1
Exercise 14.9 Review questions
9 5
1. False 4 6 8
2. Continuous
3. Categorical b. Set A
4. a. Coke b. Tea i. 1

5. a. 26 b. 14 c. 18 d. 14 e. 12 ii. 64
iii. 37.1
6. a. iv. 37.5
Cars Frequency
v. 63
0 6
1 4 Set B
2 8 i. 3
3 5 ii. 68
4 1 iii. 34
Total 24 iv. 31.5
v. 65
b. 6 c. The two sets have similar minimum and maximum
14
c. values, giving them a similar range. The mean of Set
d. 2 A is slightly higher than that of Set B. The scores of Set
e. 4 A are spread out more evenly than those in Set B, which
1 tend to be clustered towards the middle.
f.
3 12. a. i. 6.55 ii. 6 iii. 6 iv. 9
7. a. i. 3.14 ii. 4 iii. 3 b. There appear to be two outliers (11 and 12). The mean,
b. i. 3.71 ii. 4 iii. 4 median and mode values are quite close, indicating that
it is common for 6 soft drinks to be sold quite frequently.
c. i. 4.86 ii. 5 iii. 5
The minimum number sold over the period is 3, while
d. i. 2.14 ii. 1 iii. 1 the maximum is 12.
e. i. 5.2 ii. 5 iii. 5 13. a. i. 29 years ii. 27 years
iii. 18 years iv. 39 years

1 unit = 10%
f. i. 5.78 ii. 8 iii. 6
b. The ages of the group range from 14 years to 53 years,
8. a. Names b.
with most of the group being under 40. The mean or
c. John d. Peter
median values would be a good representation of the age
e. 58% f. 77%
of the group.

832 Jacaranda Maths Quest 7

14. People who ate different types of breakfast 21. a.
x f
6
0 4
12
1 5
Toast
2 7
Cereal 3 3
70
Cooked breakfast 4 0
No breakfast 5 1
62
Total 20

10 °C
15. See the figure at the foot of the page.*

e. 10 °C
16. a. b. Day 5 c. Day 7 b.
d. Day 6 f. Days 6 and 7

17. a. 81.56 b. 74.22 c. Test 1

d. 6 e. 4
18. a. 85
b. 63 0 1 2 3 4 5
Number of pets
c. 85
d. 68 c. 2, 2, 1.65
e. John 89.5, Peter 74, Mark 76.5, James 74.5, David 85.5, 22. a. 5
i.
Rachel 73.5, Mary 81, Eve 78.5, Esther 68 5.5
ii.
f. 21.5 iii. 7.9
19. a. 41 cm iv. 25
b. 154.8 cm v. 6
c. 156 cm vi. 17.9, 15.5
d. 156 cm b. When 10 was added to each score, both the mean and
e. Yes median increased by exactly 10.
20. a. Months 23. The boys have a mean height of 158 cm, with a median
b. Number of flies height of 158 cm and three modes (148 cm, 158 cm, and
166 cm) They range in height from 138 cm to 178 cm.
c. 10 000
The girls have a mean height of 153 cm, with a median

1 cm = 5000 flies (if beginning from 0 flies) or

d. 28 000 height of 152 cm and no mode. They range in height from

1 cm = 2000 flies (if beginning from 10 000 flies)

e. 137 cm to 171 cm.
The shortest person is a girl, while the tallest person is a
f. Fly population boy. On the whole, the boys are taller than the girls.
Number of flies (thousands)

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
O ber

De ber
M y

r
ov r
Fe ary

pt t
ch

be
ne
ay

A y

N obe
il

Se us
r
ua

l
pr
ar

m
Ju

em

em
Ju
M

ug
nu
br

ce
ct
Ja

Months

*15 Hobbies Skateboarding

30 20 20 15 15 Stamp collecting
Sailboarding
Photography
Model making

TOPIC 14 Representing and interpreting data 833