CHAPTER 2

Working with statistics

In this chapter you will learn how to:
• calculate the mean, median and mode
• calculate the range
• construct stem and leaf diagrams
• calculate means from frequency tables
• calculate estimated means from grouped frequency tables
• plot and interpret scatter graphs.
You will also be challenged to:
• investigate the populations of countries.

Starter: Sharing the cards

Five number cards
are drawn from a
pack of cards. 5 6 5 5 4
a) Arrange the number cards in order of size.
Which number is in the middle?
b) Which number occurs most often?
c) Find the total of the numbers on the cards.
Divide the total by 5
What is the answer?

A sixth number card is drawn from the pack.

The answers to parts a) and b) are still the same.
When the total of the six cards is divided ?
by 6, the answer is 6
d) What is the number on the sixth card?

A seventh number card is drawn from the pack.

The answers to parts a) and b) are still the same.
When the total of the seven cards is divided ?
by 7, the answer is 6
e) What is the number on the seventh card?

2 Working with statistics 21

 2.1 Mean, median and mode

My average GCSE
result was a grade C. On average, it takes
me 20 minutes to get
the bus to school.

The average employee Simon

at our company earns
£25 000 a year.

An average of a set of data gives you a typical value for that set of data.
Averages can be useful when you want to compare two sets of data –
for example, to compare the wages of male and female employees
at a company.
There are three different averages that you need to be able to use.
1 Mode This is the most frequent item of data in a set.
2 Median Put all the items of data in order of size and find the middle value.
When there is an even number of data values there will
be two values in the middle.
You need to find the value halfway between these two
values by:
● adding them together ● dividing the answer by 2
3 Mean To calculate the mean of a set of data:
● add up all the numbers
● divide by how many numbers there are.
This is more formally written as:

sum of the data values

Mean  
number of data values

22 2 Working with statistics

EXAMPLE
Simon records how long it takes him to get the bus to school every
day for 10 days.
Here are his results:
15 minutes 47 minutes 18 minutes 16 minutes
19 minutes 13 minutes 17 minutes 13 minutes
22 minutes 20 minutes
a) Find:
(i) the mean, (ii) the median, (iii) the mode of Simon’s journey times.
b) Which average has Simon (on page 22) used when he says it
takes an average of 20 minutes to get to school?
Add up all the numbers …
SOLUTION and divide by how many
numbers there are.
sum of the data values
a) (i) Mean  
number of data values
15  47  18  16  19  13  17  13  22  20
 
10
200
  There is an even number
10
of items of data (10) so
The mean is 20 minutes. there will be two values
‘in the middle’.
(ii) Write all the data values in order of size:
13 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 47
Find the middle values by counting in from each end – it
helps to cross out the items one by one from each end as
you work your way in towards the middle:
 13
13  15
 16
 17 18   22
19 20  47

So we need to find the value halfway between 17 and 18:
17  18 This is the same as the
  17.5
2 mean of the two numbers.
The median is 17.5 minutes.

(iii)13 is the only data value that appears more than once.
The mode is 13 minutes.

b) Simon has used the mean.

2.1 Mean, median and mode 23

 Look at the example on page 23.

Simon has used the mean to work out his average journey time.
However, Simon took less than 20 minutes on most days to get to
school.

On one day he took more than twice as long to get to school

(47 minutes).
This value of 47 minutes makes the mean higher than it would
otherwise have been.

So the mean does not give a good typical value of the data set.
When most data values are close together and only one or two are
much higher or lower than the rest, we say the data is skewed.

When data is skewed, the mean does not give a good typical value.

In the above example the mode (13 minutes) doesn’t give a good
typical value either.
13 minutes was Simon’s shortest journey time and only happened
twice!

The best average to take in this case is the median.

You need to decide which average would be most appropriate. Each
average has advantages and disadvantages.

Average Advantages Disadvantages

Mean Useful when the data values are May be unrepresentative of the data
close together. set when the data is skewed by
All the data values are used in the extreme values.
calculation.
Median Useful when the data is skewed. Time consuming to calculate when
It can be useful to compare with a data set is very large.
middle value (e.g. ‘half the class got Can’t find an estimated value from
70% or more in their mock exam’). grouped data.
Mode Can be used with categorical data Sometimes there isn’t a modal value
(‘red is the most popular colour (e.g. all the data values appear once).
of car’). There can be more than one mode.
Useful for opinion polls (i.e. ‘most
people think…’).

24 2 Working with statistics

EXERCISE 2.1
Don’t use your calculator for Questions 1–3.

1 Find (i) the mean, (ii) the median, (iii) the mode of the following sets of data.
a) 2 2 2 3 4 7 8
b) 7 12 14 16 16
c) 7 12 12 13 13 13 14

2 Igor surveys his friends to find out about their favourite sport.
Here are his results.
football tennis hockey football
netball football rugby football
tennis netball football rugby
Which sport is the mode?

3 Saskia surveys her friends about their favourite television programmes.

Here are her results.

Television programme Frequency

Drama 9
Comedy 14
Crime 17
Soap 16
Documentary 12

Which type of television programme is the mode?

You can use a calculator for Questions 4–7.

4 Find (i) the mean, (ii) the median, (iii) the mode of the following sets of data.
a) 2 4 3 3 7 5 1 0 5 3 0
b) 41 45 52 45 43 45 45 57 50
c) 19 17 12 14 18 18 12 18 17 18 13

5 Find (i) the mean, (ii) the median, (iii) the mode of the following sets of data.
a) 112 110 110 112 111 110
b) 52 49 51 46 51 47 48 51 55 57
c) 17 20 22 24 20 18 28 32

2.1 Mean, median and mode 25

 6 A small company advertises for new employees with this advert.
Here are the wages for the employees and owner of the company.
£12 000 £20 000 £15 000
Great Opportunity!
£12 000 £87 000 £18 000
Fantastic pay!
£22 000 £25 000 £14 000
Our average worker earns
a) Work out the mean wage. £25 000 a year!
b) Find the median wage.
c) Which average has the advertisement used?
Is this a fair average to take?
Give a reason for your answer.

7 Joanne has recorded the temperature at midnight for ten nights during January.
Here are her results.
4 °C 3 °C 1 °C 1 °C 0 °C 0 °C 3 °C 0 °C 1 °C 1 °C
Find a) the mean temperature, b) the median temperature, c) the modal temperature.

2.2 Range
Here are the numbers of goals scored by two football teams over their last ten games:
Ready Rovers 0 3 2 1 0 6 1 2 1 1
Uptown United 2 2 3 3 1 2 1 2 0 1
0321061211 17
The mean for Ready Rovers is:   
10 10
mean  1.7 goals
2233121201 17
The mean for Uptown United is:   
10 10
mean  1.7 goals
Both teams have the same mean.
To compare their results we can work out the spread of the data.
One measure of spread is the range:

Range  largest value  smallest value

Ready Rovers have a range of 6  0  6 goals.

Uptown United have a range of 3  0  3 goals.
Uptown United have a smaller range.
They are more consistent in the number of goals they score.

26 2 Working with statistics

EXERCISE 2.2
1 Find (i) the mean (ii) the median
(iii) the mode (iv) the range of the following sets of data.
a) 5 3 5 8 10 8 9 4 6 5
b) 15 13 15 18 20 18 19 14 16 15
c) 55 53 55 58 60 58 59 54 56 55
d) 105 103 105 108 110 108 109 104 106 105
e) What do you notice about your answers?

You can use a calculator for Questions 2 and 3.

2 The data set below gives the total number of goals scored by each of 15 soccer clubs
during a season.
27 8 33 11 27 40 18 24 28 30 31 34 36 14 23
a) Work out the range of the data. b) Write down the mode.
c) Calculate the value of the mean. d) Find the value of the median.

3 Jay and Felicity want to compare their mock exam results.

Here are their results.

Subject Maths Science English French Art Drama German History

Jay 78% 62% 65% 48% 85% 75% 90% 50%
Felicity 66% 73% 67% 60% 70% 75% 70% 82%

a) Work out (i) the mean, (ii) the median, (iii) the range for Jay’s results.
b) Work out (i) the mean, (ii) the median, (iii) the range for Felicity’s results.
c) Who did better in their mock exams?
Give a reason for your answer.

2.3 Stem and leaf diagrams

When you have collected data it will probably be in a jumbled up order.
Data that has simply been recorded as you collected it is called raw data.

In order to see patterns and draw meaningful conclusions, you

need to reorganise your data to obtain processed data.

The stem and leaf diagram is a way of organising a set of discrete

raw data into an ordered grid.

Each number is broken into two parts.

For example, you might break ‘23’ into a stem of 20 plus a leaf of 3

Numbers with the same stem are then collected together.

2.3 Stem and leaf diagrams 27

 EXAMPLE
Here are the numbers of runs scored by a cricket batsman during his last 20 matches.

23 0 14 28 27 41 22 6 11 18
45 25 15 0 13 29 12 21 40 20

a) Draw a stem and leaf diagram to show this information.

b) Write down the mode.
c) Find the median.

SOLUTION
a) Begin by listing the stems:
0, 10, 20… are represented with stems of 0, 1, 2…
Continue all the way up to 4, as there is a ‘45’ in the data set.
Remember to leave space for a 0’s stem too.

0
1
2 This is the stem.
3
4

Next, start entering the data.

Think of ‘23’ as 20 plus 3, so the stem is 2 and the leaf is 3
Always add a key to show how you have coded this.
This diagram shows the entries for 23 and 0

0 0
1 Key:
2 | 3  23 runs
2 3
This is a leaf.
3
4

The data is sorted into layers, called branches, but the numbers are still jumbled along
each branch – this is an unsorted stem and leaf diagram.

0 0 6 0
1 4 1 8 5 3 2 Key:
2 | 3  23 runs
2 3 8 7 2 5 9 1 0
3
This is a branch.
4 1 5 0

28 2 Working with statistics

 Finally, the branches need to be ordered to make a sorted stem and leaf diagram.
In an examination you should always draw a fully sorted diagram.

0 0 0 6 Key:
1 1 2 3 4 5 8 2 | 3  23 runs

2 0 1 2 3 5 7 8 9
3
4 0 1 5

b) The mode is 0

c) 0 
0 0 6 Key:
1 
1 2 3 4 5 8 2 | 3  23 runs

2 0 1 2 3 5 7 8 9
3
4 0 1 5
By counting in from both ends (crossing out as you count inwards)
the middle two values are 20 and 21
So the median is 20.5

So far you have found the median by ‘counting in’ from both ends of a list of data.
When you have a large amount of data it is easier to use a formula.
n1
 
The median is the  th item of data where n is the number of items of data.
2
99  1
For example, when you have 99 items of data the median will be the  th
2  
(i.e. the 50th) item of data, when the list is in order.
20  1
 
In this example you have 20 items and the median is the   10.5 or the ‘10.5th’ item.
2
This means that there are two numbers in the middle and that the median is halfway
between them – in this case the 10th and 11th items.

2.3 Stem and leaf diagrams 29

 Make sure all the ‘leaves’ are equally spaced.
You can see whether the data is skewed without losing any of the
original raw data.
Notice that a ‘stem’ of 3 is included even though the ‘branch’ is
empty.
The longest branch shows you the modal class.
In the last example the modal class is 20–29
This can be a better average to take than the mode.
The mode is not a very useful ‘average’ for this data set – it would
be silly to suggest that the cricketer’s average score is 0!
Basically all the scores are different, and it is just a fluke that two
of them have coincided to give a misleading mode of 0
If the numbers were 283, 272, 290 and 271, then the stem could be
27, 28, 29, with a key of 28 | 3 being used to show this.

EXERCISE 2.3
1 This stem and leaf diagram shows the ages of the members of a local golf club.
2 1 4 9
3 0
4 1 7 8
5 0 5 6 7 9 2
6 2

Four new members join the club.

Their ages are 35, 37, 43 and 81
a) Draw a new stem and leaf diagram to include the four new members.
b) Add a key to the diagram.
c) Find the median.
d) Find the range.

2 Penny has made an unsorted stem and leaf diagram to show the times taken by members
of her class to travel to school each morning.
The times are in minutes.
0 5 1 6
1 4 8 3 1 0
2 4 5 2 1
3 6 9 8

a) Redraw the diagram so that it is fully sorted. b) Add a key to the new diagram.
c) Find the median. d) Find the range.

30 2 Working with statistics

 3 Fifteen students have received their results from a French vocabulary test.
The scores are out of 50.

36 41 29 32 48 19 36 30
50 35 25 44 31 47 27

a) Draw a stem and leaf diagram to show this information.

Remember to include a key.
b) Work out the range of the scores.
c) Find the median score.

4 Here are the temperatures of a sample of 17 British cities one Saturday.

The temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit.

72 79 68 85 61 88 74 81 73
92 84 49 63 91 86 76 88

a) Draw a stem and leaf diagram to show this information.

b) Work out the range.
c) Find the median.

5 A box contains electronic components.

They are each supposed to have a resistance of 100 ohms.
Sasha measures each one with a meter.
Here are Sasha’s measurements.

97 111 93 105 100 102

100 88 113 96 106 94

a) Draw a stem and leaf diagram to show this information.

b) Find the median of the measurements.

2.4 Calculations with frequency tables

A frequency table is simply a list of possible values with
corresponding frequencies that tell you how many times each value
occurred.

You can find averages and the range from a frequency table.
Make sure you understand this method. It is examined regularly in
GCSE papers.

2.4 Calculations with frequency tables 31

 EXAMPLE
Boxes of matches are supposed to contain 50 matches, on average.
Sophie decides to check this figure. She takes a sample of 20 boxes, and counts their contents.

Number of matches Frequency

48 1
49 5
So there are 7 boxes
50 7
with 50 matches.
51 0
52 5
53 1
54 1

a) Calculate the value of the mean. b) Write down the mode.

c) Work out the range of the data. d) Find the value of the median.

SOLUTION
So these 7 boxes contain
a) Step 1 Make a new column and call it x  f 350 matches altogether.
Step 2 Multiply x and f together:
48  1  48 Number of matches Frequency, f xf
49  5  245 48  1  48
etc. 49  5  245
50  7  350
… …
Step 3 Add up the numbers in each of the last two columns.
Number of matches Frequency, f xf
48 1 48
49 5 245
50 7 350
51 0 0
52 5 260
53 1 53
54 1 54
20 1010
There are 20
1010 matchboxes containing
Mean  
20 1010 matches altogether.
The mean is 50.5 matches.
m
5
h
ce
sa
5
t0
.mT
sh
eie
a
n

32 2 Working with statistics

b) For the mode:

Number of matches Frequency

48 1
49 5
The highest frequency
50 7 is 7, so the mode is 50
51 0
52 5
53 1
54 1

The mode is 50 matches.

c) The lowest value is 48 and the highest is 54

Therefore the range is 54  48  6

d) The middle number in a data set is the median.

There are 20 numbers in the data set.
20  1
  1012 so the median is between the 10th and 11th values.
2

Number of matches Frequency Think about the list of data:

48 1 the 1st number is 48, the next 5
numbers are all 49
49 5
You have got 1  5  6 numbers
50 7
– not halfway yet.
51 0
52 5
The next 7 numbers are all 50
53 1
1  5  7  13, which is more than
54 1 halfway through the list of items,
so the median must be 50
The median is 50

2.4 Calculations with frequency tables 33

 EXERCISE 2.4
1 Kate is an estate agent.
She gathers some data on the number of bedrooms in each house that she is selling.

Number of bedrooms Frequency

1 10
2 22
3 43
4 13
5 9
6 3
Total

a) How many houses did Kate survey?

b) What is the modal number of bedrooms?
c) Find the median number of bedrooms.
d) Work out the mean number of bedrooms.
e) What is the range of Kate’s data?

You can use your calculator for Questions 2 and 3.

2 Emily surveys cars driving past her school into town in the morning.
She counts the number of occupants of each car.
The frequency table shows her results.
Number of occcupants Frequency
1 7
2 14
3 10
4 9
5 or more 0
Total

a) How many cars did Emily survey?

34 2 Working with statistics

 The average number
of people in each car
is 5

b) Explain why Emily must be wrong.

c) Find the modal number of occupants per car.
d) Find the range of the data.
e) Work out the mean number of occupants per car.
f) Find the median number of occupants per car.

3 John is surveying the wildlife on a local river.

He records the number of eggs in some birds’ nests.

Number of eggs Frequency

1 4
2 7
3 10
4 16
5 25
6 17
7 10
8 5
9 6
Total

a) How many nests did John survey?

b) What is the modal number of eggs in a nest?
c) Find the median number of eggs in a nest.
d) Work out the mean number of eggs in a nest.
e) What is the range of John’s data?

2.4 Calculations with frequency tables 35

 2.5 Calculations with grouped frequency tables
The methods used in the previous section can be adapted to deal
with grouped discrete data.

Your calculations might only provide estimates of the average or

spread, since the raw values have been lost in the grouping.

EXAMPLE
The marks for Year 10’s end-of-term mathematics test are shown in the table.
Mark, m Frequency, f
This is grouped
0 to 4 0
discrete data.
5 to 9 1
10 to 15 5
16 to 19 23
20 to 24 24
25 to 29 18
a) Calculate an estimate of the value of the mean.
30 to 34 15
b) Write down the modal class.
35 to 39 14 c) Work out an estimate for the range of the data.
40 or more 0 d) In which class does the median lie?

SOLUTION
a) Mark, m Frequency, f Midpoint, x xf
0 to 4 0  2  0
5 to 9 1  7  7
10 to 14 5  12  60
… …

The 5 values between The midpoint is 12

10 and 14 are treated 10  14
as   12
as if they are all equal 2
to the midpoint, 12

36 2 Working with statistics

 Mark, m Frequency, f Midpoint, x xf
0 to 4 0 2 0
5 to 9 1 7 7
10 to 14 5 12 60
15 to 19 23 17 391
20 to 24 24 22 528
25 to 29 18 27 486
30 to 34 15 32 480 The mean is only an estimate
35 to 39 14 37 518 because midpoints have been
used in the calculations – the
40 or more 0 – 0
actual values are not available.
100 2470
Note that even though
2470
Estimated mean   Add up the totals in the it says ‘estimated’ we do
100
f and the x  f columns. not round the answer.
The estimated mean is 24.7

7m
2
4
.im
e
td
saT
th
e
ia
n
b) The modal class is found by looking for the highest frequency:

Mark, m Frequency, f
0 to 4 0
5 to 9 1
10 to 15 5
The data is grouped so
you can’t work out a 16 to 19 23 24 is the highest
single value as the mode 20 to 24 24 frequency, so the
– so the modal group is modal class is 20
25 to 29 18
used instead. to 24
30 to 34 15
35 to 39 14
40 or more 0

The modal class is 20 to 24

So between the 50th
c) Estimated range  37  7  30 and 51st items of data.
100  1
 
d) The median is the  th item of data.
2
By counting through the frequencies in the table, we can see that both the 50th and 51st
numbers lie in the 20 to 24 group.
So the median lies in the 20 to 24 group.

2.5 Calculations with grouped frequency tables 37

 Essentially the same method is used when dealing with grouped
continuous data.

However, the notation used for writing the class intervals is different.

EXAMPLE
The resistances of a sample of 50 electronic components are measured.
The table shows the results.

Resistance, R Frequency, f
80  R  90 10
90  R  100 23
100  R  110 11
110  R  130 6

a) Calculate an estimate of the mean resistance.

b) State the class interval that contains the median resistance.
c) Explain whether it is possible for the range to be 48

SOLUTION
a) Resistance, R Frequency, f Midpoint, x xf
80  R  90 10 85 850
90  R  100 23 95 2185
100  R  110 11 105 1155
110  R  130 6 120 720
50 4910

4910
Estimated mean  
50
 98.2
The estimated mean is 98.2

b) The median will be in the 25th/26th position, and from the table
ht  R  100
the median lies ine90

c) It is possible for the range to be 48 (e.g. 128  80)

38 2 Working with statistics

EXERCISE 2.5
1 Meera has measured the lengths of a Length of cucumber (L) in cm Frequency ( f )
sample of cucumbers from her stall.
20  L  22 2
The frequency table shows her results.
a) State the modal class. 22  L  24 5
b) Find the class interval in which 24  L  26 8
the median lies. 26  L  28 4
c) Estimate the mean length of a 28  L  30 1
cucumber in this sample.
Total
Show all your working clearly.

You can use your calculator for Questions 2–4.

2 Maurizio records the number of people at work in his department each day.
The frequency table shows his results.

Number of people at work Frequency Midpoint

25 to 29 3
30 to 34 7
35 to 39 11
40 to 44 4
Total

a) Copy the table, and fill in the midpoint values in the third column.
b) Use the table to help you calculate an estimate of the mean number of people at
work each day.
c) State the modal class.
d) Find the class interval which contains the median.
e) Benoit says, ‘The range is 20.’
Explain why Benoit must be wrong.

3 A registrar records the ages of men who married Age (A) in years Frequency
in his office one week. 20  A  30 4
The frequency table shows her results.
30  A  40 7
a) State the modal class.
b) Find the class interval which contains the median. 40  A  50 6
c) Work out an estimate of the mean age of the 50  A  60 3
men who married that week. 60  A  70 1
Give your answer correct to 3 significant
Total
figures.

2.5 Calculations with grouped frequency tables 39

 4 Sean sets his friends a puzzle, which they solve Time (T) in minutes Frequency
under timed conditions.
5  T  10 2
The frequency table shows the times taken.
a) State the modal class. 10  T  15 5
b) Find the class interval which contains 15  T  20 9
the median. 20  T  25 7
c) Calculate an estimate of the mean time 25  T  30 4
taken to solve the puzzle.
Total 27
d) Explain briefly why your answer can only
be an estimate.

2.6 Scatter graphs

Scatter graphs are used for data that contains pairs of values,
such as:
● heights and weights of children at a school
● daily rainfall and hours of sunshine
● GCSE students’ marks in maths and length of forearm.
To make a scatter graph, you plot one value along the x axis and
the other along the y axis.
The pattern that results gives you some idea of whether there is
any correlation (link) between the data.
Sunshine (hours)
Weight (kg)

Maths mark

Height (m) Rainfall (cm) Length of forearm

Positive correlation Negative correlation No (linear) correlation

As one quantity As one quantity The points are
increases, the other increases, the other scattered randomly
one tends to increase. one tends to decrease. across the diagram.

When there is correlation, you can show the overall trend by

drawing a line of best fit.
This should not be forced to go through all the points.
It should have roughly the same number of points on either side
of the line.

40 2 Working with statistics

EXAMPLE
The table shows the average temperatures in winter and summer for ten cities across Europe.

Winter temperature, °C 2 3 6 7 8 8 12 13 13 14
Summer temperature, °C 15 17 20 17 25 21 23 26 25 24

a) Plot the data on a scatter graph.

b) Describe the relationship between winter and summer temperatures.
c) Add a line of best fit to your graph.
Another city has an average winter temperature of 10 °C
d) Use your line of best fit to estimate its average summer temperature.

SOLUTION
a)
28
Summer temperature (°C)

26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Winter temperature (°C)

b) The winter and summer temperatures show positive correlation.

c)
28
Summer temperature (°C)

26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Winter temperature (°C)

d) As shown on the graph above, the summer temperature is estimated at 22.4 °C

2.6 Scatter graphs 41

 EXERCISE 2.6
1 Match together these graphs and their descriptions:
1 2 3

A IQ against weight
B Value of car against age of car
C Height of oak tree against age of oak tree

2 The scatter graph shows some information about the marks of six students in two
examinations – Paper 1 and Paper 2.

40

30
Paper 2 marks

20

10

O 10 20 30 40 50 60
Paper 1 marks

The table shows the marks for Paper 1 and Paper 2 for two more students, A and B.

Student A Student B
Paper 1 mark 20 50
Paper 2 mark 20 35

a) On a copy of the scatter graph, plot the information from the table.
b) Describe the correlation between the marks on Paper 1 and Paper 2.
c) Draw a line of best fit on the diagram.
Another student has a Paper 2 mark of 30
d) Use your line of best fit to estimate the Paper 1 mark for this student. [Edexcel]

42 2 Working with statistics

3 The table shows the number of units of electricity used in heating a house on ten
different days and the average temperature for each day.

Average temperature (°C) 6 2 0 6 3 5 10 8 9 12

Units of electricity used 28 38 41 34 31 31 22 25 23 22

a) Complete a copy of the scatter graph to show the information in the table.
The first six points have been plotted for you.

45

40
Units of electricity used

35

30

25

20

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Average temperature (°C)

b) Describe the correlation between the number of units of electricity used and the
average temperature.
c) Draw a line of best fit on your scatter graph.
d) Use your line of best fit to estimate:
(i) the average temperature if 35 units of electricity are used
(ii) the units of electricity used if the average temperature is 7 °C [Edexcel]

2.6 Scatter graphs 43

 4 The scatter graph shows information about fourteen countries.
For each country, it shows the birth rate and the life expectancy, in years.

80
Life expectancy (years)

70

60

50

40

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Birth rate

a) Draw a line of best fit on a copy of the scatter graph.

The birth rate in another country is 42
b) Use your line of best fit to estimate the life expectancy in that country.
The life expectancy in another country is 66 years.
c) Use your line of best fit to estimate the birth rate in that country. [Edexcel]

5 a) Here is a scatter graph.

One axis is labelled ‘weight’.
(i) For this graph state the type of correlation.
(ii) From this list choose an appropriate label for
the other axis.
shoe size length of hair
height hat size length of arm
Weight

b) Here is another scatter graph with one axis labelled ‘weight’.

(i) For this graph state the type of correlation.
(ii) From this list choose an appropriate label for the
other axis.
shoe size distance around neck
waist measurement GCSE Maths mark
[Edexcel]
Weight

44 2 Working with statistics

6 On seven days, Helen recorded the time, in minutes, it took a 2 cm ice cube to melt.
She also recorded the temperature, in °C, on that day.
Some of her results are shown in the scatter graph below.

70

60

50
Time to melt (minutes)

40

30

20

10

O 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Temperature (°C)

All of her results are shown in the table below.

Temperature (°C) 9 11.5 15 17 20 21 26

Time (minutes) 63 55 48 40 30 25 12.5

a) Complete a copy of the scatter graph.

b) Describe the relationship between the temperature and the time it takes a 2 cm ice
cube to melt.
c) Draw a line of best fit on the scatter graph.
d) Use your line of best fit to estimate the time it took for a 2 cm ice cube to melt when
the temperature was 13 °C
e) Use your line of best fit to estimate the temperature when a 2 cm ice cube took
19 minutes to melt.
f) Explain why the line of best fit could not be used to estimate the time it took a 2 cm
ice cube to melt when the temperature was 35 °C [Edexcel]

2.6 Scatter graphs 45

 7 The table shows the number of pages and the weight, in grams, for each of 10 books.

Number of pages 80 130 100 140 115 90 160 140 105 150
Weight 160 270 180 290 230 180 320 270 210 300

a) Complete a copy of the scatter graph to show the information in the table.
The first six points in the table have been plotted for you.

320

300

280

260
Weight of book (g)

240

220

200

180

160

0
60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Number of pages

46 2 Working with statistics

 b) For these books, describe the relationship between the number of pages and the
weight of a book.
c) Draw a line of best fit on the scatter graph.
d) Use your line of best fit to estimate:
(i) the number of pages in a book of weight 280 g
(ii) the weight of a book with 120 pages. [Edexcel]

REVIEW EXERCISE 2
Don’t use your calculator for Questions 1–5.

1 Joanna made a list of the ages of the children in a playgroup.

4 3 1 4 2 4 4 2 1 2
a) Find the median age of the children in the playgroup.
b) Find the range of the ages of the children in the playgroup. {Edexcel]

2 Shirin recorded the number of students late for school each day for 21 days.
The stem and leaf diagram shows this information.
Number of students late
0 4 5 7 8 8 9 Key:
1 2 2 5 6 6 7 7 9 9 9 1 | 4 means 14 students late
2 0 1 3 4 6

a) Find the median number of students late for school.

b) Work out the range of the number of students late for school. {Edexcel]

3 Rosie has 10 boxes of drawing pins.

She counted the number of drawing pins in each box.
The table gives information about her results.
Number of drawing pins Frequency
29 2
30 5
31 2
32 1

a) Write down the modal number of drawing pins in a box.

b) Work out the range of the number of drawing pins in a box.
c) Work out the mean number of drawing pins in a box. {Edexcel]

Review exercise 2 47
 4 The scatter graph shows some information about six new-born baby apes.
For each baby ape, it shows the mother’s leg length and the baby ape’s birth weight.

1.8

1.7
Baby ape’s birth weight (kg)

1.6

1.5

1.4

0
40 50 60 70
Mother’s leg length (cm)

The table shows the mother’s leg length and the birth weight of two more baby apes.

Mother’s leg length (cm) 50 65

Baby ape’s birth weight (kg) 1.6 1.75

a) On a copy of the scatter graph, plot the information from the table.
b) Describe the correlation between a mother’s leg length and her baby ape’s birth
weight.
c) Draw a line of best fit on the graph.
A mother’s leg length is 55 cm
d) Use your line of best fit to estimate the birth weight of her baby ape. [Edexcel]

48 2 Working with statistics

 5 20 students scored goals for the school hockey team last month.
The table gives information about the number of goals they scored.

Goals scored Number of students

1 9
2 3
3 5
4 3

a) Write down the modal number of goals scored.

b) Work out the range of the number of goals scored.
c) Work out the mean number of goals scored. [Edexcel]

You can use your calculator for Questions 6–13.

6 A rugby team plays 10 games.

Here are the numbers of points they scored.
13 23 15 12 8 19 23 15 37 15
a) Write down the mode.
b) Work out the range.
c) Work out the mean. [Edexcel]

7 Andy did a survey of the number of cups of coffee some pupils in his school
had drunk yesterday.
The frequency table shows his results.

Number of cups of coffee Frequency

2 1
3 3
4 5
5 8
6 5

a) Work out the number of pupils that Andy asked.

Andy thinks that the average number of drinks pupils in his survey had drunk is 7
b) Explain why Andy cannot be correct. [Edexcel]

Review exercise 2 49
 8 The scatter graph shows information about the number of donkey
rides on Blackpool beach, and the number of hours of sunshine on
each day.

10
Number of hours of sunshine

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Number of donkey rides

The table shows the number of donkey rides and the number of hours of sunshine on
four other days.

Number of donkey rides 130 185 210 220

Number of hours sunshine 3 4 5 5.5

a) On a copy of the scatter graph, plot the information from the table.
b) Describe the relationship between the number of donkey rides and the number of
hours of sunshine.
c) Draw a line of best fit on the scatter graph.
d) Use your line of best fit to estimate:
(i) the number of donkey rides when there are 7 hours of sunshine
(ii) the number of hours of sunshine on a day when there were 200 donkey rides.
[Edexcel]

50 2 Working with statistics

9 Jan measures the heights, in millimetres, of 20 plants in her greenhouse.
Here are her results.
178 189 147 147 166
167 153 171 164 158
189 166 165 155 152
147 158 148 151 172
Draw a stem and leaf diagram to show this information. [Edexcel]

10 Here are times, in minutes, taken to change some tyres.

5 10 15 12 8
20 33 15 25 10
7 20 35 24 15
8 10 20 16 10
Draw a stem and leaf diagram to show these times. [Edexcel]

11 The table shows information about the number of hours that 120 children used a
computer last week.

Number of hours (h) Frequency

0h2 10
2h4 15
4h6 30
6h8 35
8  h  10 25
10  h  12 5

Work out an estimate for the mean number of hours that the children used a computer.
Give your answer correct to two decimal places. [Edexcel]

Review exercise 2 51
 12 A garage keeps records of the costs of repairs to its customers’ cars.
The table gives information about the costs of repairs which were less than £250 in
one week.

Cost (£C) Frequency

0  C  50 4
50  C  100 8
100  C  150 7
150  C  200 10
200  C  250 11

a) Find the class interval in which the median lies.

There was only one further repair that week, not included in the table.
That repair cost £1000
Dave says ‘The class interval in which the median lies will change’.
b) Is Dave correct?
Explain your answer. [Edexcel]

13 35 students with Saturday jobs took part in Hourly rate of pay (£x) Frequency
a survey. 3.00  x  3.50 1
They were asked the hourly rate of pay for
3.50  x  4.00 2
their jobs.
This information is shown in the grouped 4.00  x  4.50 4
frequency table. 4.50  x  5.00 7
Work out an estimate for the mean hourly 5.00  x  5.50 19
rate of pay.
5.50  x  6.00 2
Give your answer to the nearest penny.
[Edexcel]

52 2 Working with statistics

KEY POINTS
1 There are three averages you need to know:
• mode – the most frequent item of data
• median – put all the items of data in order of size and find the middle value
• mean – add up all the numbers and divide by how many numbers there are.
2 The range is the difference between the largest data value and the smallest.
3 In order to see patterns in discrete data sets, it helps to organise the raw data in
some way.
A good method is the stem and leaf diagram – you should:
• always draw a fully sorted diagram
• remember to add a key
• make sure that the vertical columns of figures line up
• not put commas in a stem and leaf diagram.
4 Another good way to organise data is by using a frequency table.
This works for discrete data, grouped discrete data and grouped continuous data.
5 You can calculate the mean (or an estimate of the mean) from a frequency table.
6 Scatter graphs are useful for data that comes in pairs.
7 Correlation is either positive or negative, or there is no correlation.
8 When there is positive or negative correlation, a line of best fit can be drawn – it
passes among the points with roughly an equal number of points on each side of
the line.
The line of best fit should not be forced through any particular point.
9 The line of best fit can be used to estimate missing values.

Key points 2 53
 Internet Challenge 2 
Populations
Here is a list of the twelve most populous countries in the world, in decreasing order.

Name of country Population in Area in millions of

millions square kilometres
1 China
2 India
3 United States of America
4 Indonesia
5 Brazil
6 Pakistan
7 Bangladesh
8 Russia
9 Nigeria
10 Japan
11 Mexico
12 Philippines
Make a copy of this table on a computer spreadsheet, such as Excel.
Then use an internet search engine to find the missing values for the other two columns,
and fill them in.
Use the spreadsheet’s Chart Wizard or equivalent to make a scatter graph.
Is there any correlation between the population of a country and its area?

54 2 Working with statistics