191

Statistics
UNIT 7 STATISTICS
Structure
7.1 Introduction
Objectives
7.2 Statistical Data and Variables and Units of Observations
7.2.1 Raw Data
7.2.2 Variables of Observation
7.2.3 Unit of Observation
7.3 Construction of Frequency Tables (or Frequency Distributions) from
Raw Data
7.4 Graphical Presentation of Frequency Distributions
7.5 Measures of Location and Dispersion
7.5.1 Measures of Location
7.5.2 Measures of Dispersion
7.6 Summary
7.7 Answers to SAQs
7.1 INTRODUCTION
The word statistics appears to have been derived from the Latin word status
meaning a (political) state. In its origin, statistics was simply the study of The
political arrangement of the modern states of the known world. The description
of states was at first verbal but later the increasing proportion of numerical data in
the description gradually gave the word statistics. The scope of statistics now
includes collection of numerical data pertaining to almost every field; for this
reason it is very useful in economics, sociology, business, education, agriculture,
psychology, biology and related fields. It may be defined as a science which
enables us to draw representative samples, analyse the data collected, interpret
and make inferences.
Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to
construct the frequency tables given a numerical data,
define the measures of location namely mean and the median and
analyse the information it conveys, and
define the measures of dispersion namely the standard deviation, and
the mean deviation and analyse the information it conveys.
7.2 STATISTICAL DATA AND VARIABLES AND
UNITS OF OBSERVATIONS
7.2.1 Raw Data
Statistics is a collection of information in numerical terms. For example, marks
obtained by the students of a class; monthly wages of workers in a factory;
numbers indicating births, deaths and marriages in different states etc. are called



192
Mathematics-II

Statistical Data or Numerical Data and statistics is the science which deals with
the collection, analysis and interpretation of statistical data.
The numerical data or information is collected in two ways. When information is
collected in respect of every individual person or item, then the numerical data
has been carried out by means of complete Enumeration or Census. But if
information is collected only from a selected portion (or sample) of a given
population, the procedure is called Sample Survey.
For example, during the census operation, the population of a country is
enumerated and all citizens are included in such operation but while verifying the
accuracy of entries in Books of Accounts, we check only a portion of entries. This
is an example of Sample Survey.
In addition to these two methods, we also come across regular collection and
recording of information in a routine manner for example the Railways keep a
daily record of movement of passengers and goods, the income earned through
fares and freights etc.
The information collected through censuses and surveys or in a routine manner is
called raw data.
7.2.2 Variables of Observation
In a census, suppose for each person we have recorded the age and sex and
whether the person belongs to a rural or urban area, we say that we have taken
observations on three variables : age, sex and place of residence. The term
variable stands for what is being observed. A variable is completely described by
its descriptive name and the description of all the values it can possibly take. In
the above example, the variable called place of residence has two possible
values as rural or urban. The value of this variable could also have been
recorded as the name of the state, district, city, village etc. Thus, the variable
place of residence has the same name but the set of values may be different for
them. We regard two variables to be different if their set of possible values are
different even if they have the same name.
Qualitative and Quantitative Variables
Variables of observations with numbers as possible values are called
quantitative variables and variables of observation with name of things,
places etc. are called qualitative variables. For example in the example of
census, the value of age variable were numbers so the age variable is a
quantitative variable whereas the variable called place of residence is a
qualitative variable. A word of caution is necessary here. Suppose in the
recording of the variable place of residence we mark 1 if urban and 2 if
rural but this does not make the variable a quantitative variable. A
quantitative variable has not only its values recorded as numbers but they
are really number on which arithmetic operations can be carried out. For
example, age is a quantitative variable as sum, product, difference of age
has a sense whereas the sum of rural or urban place of residence has no
sense.
Age, height, income of a worker etc. are examples of quantitative variables
whereas variables such as sex, religion, caste etc. are qualitative variables.

193

Statistics
7.2.3 Unit of Observation
Suppose in the census example we have recorded age, sex and place of residence
of all the persons alive at the time of the census and in another example we have
recorded the results of a particular examination, i.e. we have recorded the name of
the students who appeared in that examination and marks obtained by each
student.
The term unit of observation will be used to describe what the values of a variable
are attached to. In the census example, the unit of observations are person alive at
the time of census and to each unit of observation we recorded the value of three
variables : age, sex and place of residence. In the example of results of a
particular examination, the unit of observations would be the students who have
appeared in the said examination and the variable of observation will be marks
obtained by a particular student. Thus different variables of observation may be
associated with the same unit of observation.
7.3 CONSTRUCTION OF FREQUENCY TABLES (OR
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS) FROM RAW
DATA
If a sample of a population contains a large number of observations, the
investigator has to devise methods to condense it and present it in the form of
tables and charts to bring out its main characteristics. This is called data
presentation.
Let us consider, for example, the marks obtained by 30 students of Class XI in a
class test (out of 80 marks) in mathematics.
60, 49, 53, 57, 73, 62, 40, 39, 68, 55, 36, 61, 40, 31, 43, 41, 47, 52, 67, 44, 54, 52,
24, 38, 48, 46, 72, 46, 47, 49.
These observations constitute raw data or ungrouped data. What do these
30 numbers convey to us? Not much. We, therefore, would like to bring out
certain features of this data. For instance, we could arrange numbers in ascending
or descending order of magnitude. But, this method would involve difficulties
when the number of observations is very large. So, what we generally do is, to
condense the data into classes (or groups) as follows :
We find the difference between maximum and minimum observations. This
difference is called range of the raw data. Then, we decide about the number of
classes into which the raw data is to be grouped. Care should be taken that the
classes cover the entire range and there is a class to include the least observation
and also a class to include greatest observation. In general, we make sure that we
have not less than 5 or more than 15 classes.
In the above example, the range is 73 24 = 49. So, it is convenient to have
10 classes, each of width (or size) 5. In general, the width of each class (or
class-interval) is a convenient whole number immediately greater than the
quotient obtained by dividing the range by the number of classes to be made.
While setting up the class limits (i.e. the maximum and minimum numbers which
can be put in the class), the following rules may be observed :
(i) Classes should be non-overlapping.
(ii) The classes should be continuous without any gap.
(iii) As far as possible, the classes should be of the same size.



194
(iv) Classes such as, less than 3 or more than 8, i.e. open-ended classes
should be avoided.
Mathematics-II

(v) The boundaries of each class should be determined in such a way that
there is no ambiguity as to which class a particular observation of the
data belongs.
In our example, we choose the classes as
24 29, 29 34, 34 39, . . . , 69 74.
Note that the class 24 29 will contain all observations which are greater
than or equal to 24 but less than 29. The observation 29 will be put in the next
class and so on.
24 is the lower limit of the class 24 29 and 29 is the upper limit of the class.
The arithmetic average of the lower limit and the upper limit of a class is called
the class-mark of that class. The class mark of the class 24 29 is

+
=
2
29 24
5 . 26 .
To prepare the frequency distribution table, we take each observation from the
data, one at a time and put a tally mark (a right-handed dash) opposite the class in
which the observation lies. For sake of convenience and symmetry, we record
tally marks in bunches of five, the fifth one crossing the other four diagonally.
The count of tally marks in a particular class is called frequency of that class and
is recorded opposite the class next to the tally marks. It may be noted that the sum
of all the frequencies is equal to the total number of observations in the raw data.
Table 7.1
Class-interval
(Marks out of 80)
Tally Marks Frequency
24 29 / 1
29 34 / 1
34 39 // 2
39 44 //// 5
44 49 //// / 6
49 54 //// 5
54 59 /// 3
59 64 /// 3
64 69 // 2
69 74 // 2
Total 30
Using the above steps, the frequency distribution table of the marks obtained by
30 students of class XI in a class test (out of a maximum of 80) in mathematics is
as shown in Table 7.1.
The data in the above form are called grouped data. We have condensed 30
observations into ten classes and we observe from this data that
(i) There are 4 students (out of 30) who have secured less than 39 (of
course, 24) marks.
(ii) Nearly half the students (16) have secured marks between 39 and 54.
(iii) Only two students have secured 69 or more than 69 (of course, 74)
marks.

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Statistics
Often, we shall be interested in knowing the number of observations less than a
particular number. For this purpose we add another column in the above
frequency table. Opposite to each class we write in this column, the sum of
frequencies of all the previous classes and that particular class. The new number
we get is called the cumulative frequency of the class and the modified table is
called cumulative frequency table.
Table 7.2
Class-interval
(Marks out of 80)
Tally Marks Frequency Cumulative
Frequency
24 29 / 1 1
29 34 / 1 2
34 39 // 2 4
39 44 //// 5 9
44 49 //// / 6 15
49 54 //// 5 20
54 59 /// 3 23
59 64 /// 3 26
64 69 // 2 28
69 - 74 // 2 30
Total 30
Surely, the cumulative frequency of the last class is same as the total number of
observations in the data. The cumulative frequency table in case of our example is
the Table 7.2.
From this table we can say, at a glance, that 15 (our of 30) students have secured
less than 49 marks and only 4 students have secured less than 39 marks.
In fact, there are two types of cumulative frequencies upward or downwards. A
cumulative frequency distribution may be made on a less than basis or on a
more than basis. Table 7.2 has been constructed on a less than basis. For
comparison, we give below, both the tables, one constructed on less than basis
and the other on more than basis.
Table 7.3 (i)
Cumulative Frequency Table Constructed on Less than Basis
Score Number of Students Scoring Less
than the Indicated Score
24 0
29 1
34 2
39 4
44 9
49 15
54 20
59 23
64 26
69 28
Total 30



196
Table 7.3 (ii)
Cumulative Frequency Table Constructed on More than Basis
Mathematics-II

Score Number of Students Scoring More
than or Equal to the Indicated Score
24 30
29 29
34 28
39 26
44 21
49 15
54 10
59 7
64 4
69 2
Total 0
In practical situations, it is often desired to compare class frequencies in two or
more distributions based upon a very different number of total items. This
becomes very easy, if we transform the absolute frequencies into relative
frequencies. The class frequencies expressed relative to the total frequency (total
number of items) are called percentage frequencies. We arrive at percentage
frequencies by dividing the frequencies in each class by the total number of items
in the distribution and express the resulting fraction as percents. The following
table illustrates the whole process.
Table 7.4
Class Frequency Cumulative Frequency
24 29 1
% 33 . 3 0333 . 0
30
1
= =
29 34 1
% 33 . 3 0333 . 0
30
1
= =
34 39 2
% 67 . 6 0667 . 0
30
2
= =
39 44 5
% 67 . 16 1667 . 0
30
5
= =
44 49 6
% 00 . 20 2000 . 0
30
6
= =
49 54 5
% 67 . 16 1667 . 0
30
5
= =
54 59 3
% 00 . 10 1000 . 0
30
3
= =
59 64 3
% 00 . 10 1000 . 0
30
3
= =
64 69 2
% 67 . 6 0667 . 0
30
2
= =
69 74 2
% 67 . 6 0667 . 0
30
2
= =
Total 30

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Statistics
Sometimes, the classes are not continuous, i.e. the upper class limit of a class is
not equal to the lower class-limit of the next class; then we make the classes
continuous by decreasing lower limit of each class by 0.5 and increasing upper
limit by 0.5. Consider the example of distribution of ages (in years) of primary
school teachers in a Tehsil :
Table 7.5(a)
Age
(in Years)
Number of Primary Teachers
21 25 20
26 30 26
31 35 34
36 40 47
41 45 15
46 50 7
51 55 3
Total 152
We shall modify the above frequency distribution table as follows :
Table 7.5(b)
Age
(in Years)
Number of Primary Teachers
20.5 25.5 20
25.5 30.5 26
30.5 35.5 34
35.5 40.5 47
40.5 45.5 15
45.5 50.5 7
50.5 55.5 3
Total 152


Example 7.1
Given the following distribution of weekly wage rates of a selected group
of junior and senior typists in a private factory; compare the two
distributions by constructing relative frequency distributions :
Weekly Wage Rate
(in Rupees)
Number of Junior
Typists
Number of Senior
Typists
100-200 12
200-300 32
300-400 38 16
400-500 30 19
500-600 13 10
600-700 3
700-800 2
Solution



198
We construct the table of relative frequencies as follows :
Mathematics-II

Table 7.6
Number of Typists Percent of Total Number of
Typists
Weekly Wage
Rate (in
Rupees)
Junior Senior Junior Senior
100-200 12
6 . 9
125
1200
=

200-300 32
6 . 25
125
3200
=

300-400 38 16
4 . 30
125
3800
= 0 . 32
50
1600
=
400-500 30 19
0 . 24
125
3000
= 0 . 38
50
1900
=
500-600 13 10
4 . 10
125
1300
= 0 . 20
50
1000
=
600-700 3
0 . 6
50
300
=
700-800 2
0 . 4
50
200
=
Total 125 50 100 100
7.4 GRAPHICAL PRESENTATION OF FREQUENCY
DISTRIBUTIONS
The main features of frequency distribution are conveniently communicated by
representing the frequency distribution in the term of a diagram, since a diagram
is more easily and more quickly understood than a collection of numbers.
Diagrammatic presentation is particularly useful when the number of classes or
the class frequency distribution is large.
There are various methods of graphical presentation of frequency distribution
which are in use. We shall discuss only two of them namely the bar diagram and
the pie diagram.
The Bar Diagram
To draw the bar diagram of a frequency distribution, we mark equal
lengths on horizontal axis for representing difference classes. These lengths
must be equal even if the classes are of unequal size. On each of these
lengths (on the horizontal axis), we erect a rectangle whose height is
proportional to the frequency of the class represented by its base. This
means that the heights of a rectangle represents the relative frequency of the
class represented by its base. Thus, we shall get bars and hence the name
bar diagram. The bar diagram of frequency distribution of Table 7.1 (using
the Table 7.4) is shown in Figure 7.1.


20
25
y
n
c
y

(
%
)


e

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Statistics









Figure 7.1
The bar diagram (or bar chart) is particularly useful when it is desired to
compare two different frequency distributions. This is achieved by drawing
two bars (for the same class) adjacent to each other, one for the first
distribution and the other for the second, their heights representing the
relative frequencies in their respective distribution. The bar diagram for
studying the comparison of two distribution of Table 7.6 (Example 7.1) is
shown in Figure 7.2.

0
10
20
30
40
1
0
0
-
2
0
0

x
y
Wages per Week (in Rupees)
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

(
%
)



2
0
0
-
3
0
0

3
0
0
-
4
0
0

4
0
0
-
5
0
0

5
0
0
-
6
0
0

6
0
0
-
7
0
0

7
0
0
-
8
0
0











Figure 7.2
The Pie Diagram
The pie diagram (or pie chart) is used to represent relative frequencies only.
The relative frequencies of different classes are represented by sectors of a
circle. The angle of each sector is proportional to the relative frequency of
the particular class represented by the sector. The angle of a sector
representing a particular class is calculated by multiplying 360
o
with the
relative frequency of that class. The angles of sectors representing the
frequency distribution of Table 7.1 is calculated in the following table using
Table 7.4.
The pie diagram of the distribution (Table 7.7) is shown in Figure 7.3.
Table 7.7



200
Mathematics-II

Class Percentage
Frequency
Angle of the Sector
Representing the Class
24 29 3.33
o
o
12
100
360 33 . 3
=

29 34 3.33
o
o
12
100
360 33 . 3
=

34 39 6.67
o
o
24
100
360 67 . 6
=

39 44 16.67
o
o
60
100
360 67 . 16
=

44 49 20.00
o
o
72
100
360 20
=

49 54 16.67
o
o
60
100
360 67 . 16
=

54 59 10.00
o
o
36
100
360 10
=

59 64 10.00
o
o
36
100
360 10
=

64 69 6.67
o
o
24
100
360 67 . 6
=

69 74 6.67
o
o
24
100
360 67 . 6
=

Total 100 360
o









44-49
49-54
39-44
54-59
59-64
64-
34-
(10%)
(16.67%)
(20%)
69
69-74
24-29
29-34
39
(10%)
(6.67%)
(6.67%)
(3.33%)
(3.33%)
(6.67%)
(16.67%)
Figure 7.3 : Pie Diagram Showing the Frequency Distribution of Table 7.7
7.5 MEASURES OF LOCATION AND DISPERSION
So far we have discussed the presentation of raw data in a form suitable for
communicating the information contained in it and have studied the use of
frequency tables. In case of quantitative variables the information contained in the
raw data can be summarized by means of a few numerical values. Such a
summary is partly provided by what are called measures of location and measures
of dispersion.

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Statistics
7.5.1 Measures of Location
Definition 1
The Arithmetic Mean of the values x
1
, x
2
, . . . , x
n
of a variable recorded
for n units of observation is defined as
n
x x x
n
+ + + . . .
2 1
and is denoted
by x .

i
n
i
n
x
n n
x x x
x

=
=
+ + +
=
1
2 1
1 . . .

From the definition of x , we have
0 ) (
1
=

=
x x
i
n
i

i.e. 0 ) ( . . . ) ( ) (
2 1
= + + + x x x x x x
n

Thus some values of x x
i
must be positive and some negative so that
the sum is zero. If we add all the positive x x
i
and all the
negative x x
i
, these two sums will have the same value but opposite in
sign so that their algebraic sum is zero.
Hence we say that x lies at the centre of all the observations. Unless
otherwise stated, the word mean denotes the arithmetic mean.
For calculating the mean of the group data, suppose the observed values in
the different classes of the frequency table are and the
frequencies in each class are , then mean will be given by
k
y y y , . . . , ,
2 1
k
f f f , . . . , ,
2 1

i
k
i
i i
k
i
f
y f
x

=
=
=
1
1

In some cases the classes are no longer defined by single values, each
class consists of many values of the variable. In such a case the method is
to replace all the observed values belonging to a class by the mid value of
that class and then use the mid value to determine the mean. In this
method one of the class marks (preferably near the middle) is designated
as a (called the assumed mean) and the deviation a y d
i i
= are
calculated for each class.
The arithmetic mean is then

i
k
i
i i
k
i
i
k
i
i i
k
i
f
a d f
f
y f
x

=
=
=
=
+
= =
1
1
1
1
) (


i i
k
i
i
k
i
i i i
k
i
d f
n
a
f
a f d f
x

=
=
=
+ =
+
=
1
1
1
1
) (

where k is the number of classes and n, the number of observations,



202
Mathematics-II

i.e.
i
k
i
f n

=
=
1
i.e.
i i
k
i
d f
n
a x

=
+ =
1
1

Since in most of the problems, the width of all the classes is same, we can
further simplify the calculations of the mean of the grouped data by
calculating the mean of
i
s (denoted by Mu), where
c
a y
i
i

= , c is the
width of each class and a is an assumed mean.
Now,
i i
k
i
d f
n
a x

=
+ =
1
1


c
d
f c
n
a
i
i
k
i
.
1
1

=
+ =

c
d
f
n
c
a
i
i
k
i
.
1

=
+ =

+ =

=
i i
k
i
f
n
c a
1
1

= =
i
i i
c
a y
c
d

= a + c
This method is known as the step deviation method.
Remark
The step deviation method works equally well if the classes are of unequal
width. The only care to be taken is that the number c (which may not be
the class size) should be a divisor of each class size.


Example 7.2
The marks obtained by 20 students in a test were 13, 17, 11, 5, 18, 16, 11,
14, 13, 12, 18, 11, 9, 6, 8, 17, 21, 22, 7, 6.
Find (i) The mean marks per student.
(ii) The mean marks per student when marks of each student are
increased by 5.
(iii) The mean marks per student when the marks of each student are
doubled.
Solution
The sum of marks of all the students = 13 + 17 + 11 + 5 + 18 + 16 + 11 +
14 + 13 + 12 + 18 + 11 + 9 + 6 + 8 + 17 + 21 + 22 + 7 + 6 = 255.
(i) Mean = 75 . 12
20
255
students of Number
= =

i
x


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Statistics
(ii) When marks of each student is increased by 5, then sum of their
marks is increased by 20 5 = 100, i.e. sum of marks
= 255 + 100 = 355.
Mean 75 . 17
20
355
= =
Thus we see that mean is also increased by 5.
(iii) When marks of each student is doubled, the sum of their marks is also
doubled, i.e. the sum of the marks = 255 2 = 510.
Mean 75 . 12 2 5 . 25
20
510
= = =
i.e. the mean has also doubled.


Example 7.3
The following table shows the gain in weight by 25 children in a year
Gain in Weight
(in kg)
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
No. of Children 2 3 4 2 5 1 4 3 1
Find the mean of gain in weight.
Solution
For calculation of the mean, we construct the table
y
i
f
i
f
i
y
i
2.0 2 4.0
2.5 3 7.5
3.0 4 12.0
3.5 2 7.0
4.0 5 20.0
4.5 1 4.5
5.0 4 20.0
5.5 3 16.5
6.0 1 6.0
Total 25 97.5
Mean 9 . 3
25
5 . 97
= =

=
i
i i
f
y f

So mean of gain in weight = 3.9.


Example 7.4
The weekly observations on cost of living index in a certain city for a
particular year are
Cost of Living
Index
140-150 150-160 160-170 170-180 180-190 190-200



204
Mathematics-II

Number of
Weeks
5 10 20 9 6 2
Compute the average weekly cost of Living Index.
Solution
We shall use the deviation method by taking a = 165 the assumed mean.
Class Class Mark
(y
i
)
Frequency
(f
i
)
d
i
= y
i
a f
i
d
i
140 150 145 5 20 100
150 160 155 10 10 100
160 170 165 20 0 + 0
170 180 175 9 10 + 90
180 190 185 6 20 120
190 200 195 2 30 60
Total 52 70
Mean
52
70
165 + =

+ =
i
i i
f
d f
a
= 165 + 1.35 = 166.35


Example 7.5
The ages of all the male inhabitants of a village were received and the
following frequencies distribution was obtained.
Age
(years)
0-5 5-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-80
Number of
Persons
12 18 16 19 14 11 4 3
Obtain the mean age per male inhabitant.
Solution
We construct the following table, taking assuming mean a = 25, c = 2.5.
Class Class Mark
(y
i
)
Frequency
(f
i
i)
c
a y
i
i

=
f
i

i
0 5 2.5 12 9 108
5 10 7.5 18 7 126
10 20 15 16 4 64
20 30 25 19 0 0
30 40 35 14 4 56
40 50 45 11 8 88
40 60 55 4 12 48
60 80 70 3 18 54
Total 97 52
Mean =
i
i i
f
f
c a

+

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Statistics
Mean
97
52
5 . 2 25

+ =
34 . 1 25
97
130
25 = =
= 23.66 nearly.

Definition 2 : Median
Median is defined as the central value of a set of observations. It divides the
whole series of observations into two parts. If there are n observations
, then
n
x x x x , . . . , , ,
3 2 1
Median

+ +
+
=
even is n if
n observatio th
n
th
n
odd is n if n, observatio th
n
,
2
1
2
n observatio
2
2
1

where are either in ascending or in descending order.
n
x x x x , . . . , , ,
3 2 1
For example, the median of 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12 is
2
1 7 +
th term
= 4 th term = 8
and the median of 3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 23

+ + = term 1
2
10
term 10
2
1
th th
) term 6 term 5 (
2
1
th th + =
5 . 13 ) 15 12 (
2
1
= + = .
Alternatively, the median of a set of n observations is a number M which
satisfies the conditions :
(i) (Number of observations M)
2
n
.
(ii) (Number of observations M)
2
n
.
Consider the set 8, 9, 5, 3, 12, 18, 15, 16, 23, 19 of 10 numbers. The
numbers arranged in ascending order are 3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 23.
If M is the median, then there should be atleast

=
2
10
5 numbers greater
than or equal to M; this suggests that M 15. Also, there should be atleast
5 numbers less than or equal to M; this suggests that M 12. This means
that any number between 12 and 15 can be taken as the median.
Conventionally, we take the mean of 12 and 15 as the median.
We observe from the above definition of median that unlike the arithmetic
mean, median of a set of observations may not be unique. However, the
methods given here are conventional and these determine the median
without ambiguity.



206
In case of grouped data, the median is calculated by formula :
Mathematics-II

Median
m
m
f
c
f
C
n
l

+ =
1
2
,
where l = lower limit of the median class,
f
m
= frequency of the median class,
C
f 1
= cumulative frequency of the class preceding to the median
class,
c
m
= width of the median class, and
n = sum of all the frequencies, i.e. total number of observations.
The median class being the class which contains the th
n
2
observation.
Remark
The above method of finding the median in case of grouped data works well
even if the classes are of unequal widths. Of course, we assume that the
frequency of the median class is uniformly distributed over the whole
class and the classes are without gaps and they have been arranged
according to the ascending order of the variable.


Example 7.6
The number of students absent in a school was recorded every day for
147 days and the new data was presented in the form of the frequency table
given below :
Number of
Students
Absent
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 18 20
Number of
Days
1 5 11 14 16 13 10 70 4 1 1 1
Obtain the median and describe the information conveyed by it.
Solution
Here, n = 147, and odd number, therefore the median th
n
2
1 +
= , i.e.
th
2
1 147 +
observations, i.e. the median is 74 th observation. To find it, we
construct the cumulative frequency table.
x
i
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 18 20
y
i
1 5 11 14 16 13 10 70 4 1 1 1
Cunulative
Frequency
1 6 17 31 47 60 70 14
0
14
4
14
5
14
6
14
7
We notice that 74 th observation is 12.
( all observations from 71
st
upto 140 are equal, each being 12.)

207

Statistics
This value of the median suggests that for half the number of days 12 or
more than 12 students remained absent and on the other days 12 or less than
12 students remained absent.


Calculate the mean and median of the following data :
Number of
Workers
12 30 65 107 157 202 222 230
Wages per
Week up to
(Rs.)
15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120
Solution
In this case, we are given the cumulative frequencies. We construct the
following table for mean and the median. Here, width of each class = 15.
We shall use step deviation method taking a = 67.5.
Class Frequency
y
i
Cumulative
Frequency
f
i
15

a y
i
i

=
f
i

i
0 15 7.5 12 12 4 48
15 30 22.5 30 18 3 54
30 45 37.5 65 35 2 70
45 60 52.5 107 42 1 42
60 74 67.5 157 50 0 0
75 90 82.5 202 45 1 45
90 105 97.5 222 20 2 40
105 120 112.5 230 8 3 24
Total 230 105
The mean
230
105
15 5 . 67

+ =

+ =
i
i i
f
f
c a
= 67.5 6.85 = 60.65 nearly.
Here 115
2
230
2
= =
n

Median class is 60 75.
Median
m
m
1 f
c
f
C
2
n
l

+ =


15
50
107 115
60

+ =
= 60 + 2.4 = 62.4

7.5.2 Measures of Dispersion
Example 7.7
Suppose a cricket team to represent India was to be selected and all the members
of the team have been selected except one. Two players X and Y are available and



208
the last member to be selected has to be one of them. The managers look at the
runs scored by these two batsmans in the last 5 matches which are as follows :
Mathematics-II

X 38, 70 48, 34 42, 55 63, 46 54, 44
Y 5, 11 8, 29 83, 104 20, 28 81, 123
The average score per inning is nearly 50 for both the players. We observe that
the runs made by player X do not change much from inning to inning whereas Ys
scores show great variation with very high scores in one inning and very low in
another. We use the word dispersion and say that the runs scored by Y show a
higher dispersion than the runs made by X. The mean of runs made by X is 49.4
and his scores are close to the mean score whereas the mean score of Y is 49.2
and his scores in different innings are not close to the mean score.
The measure of location, the mean and the median give us a central value around
which the values of the variables are located but gives us no idea of how far these
values are from the central value. The measure of dispersion which we are going
to study now provides us this information.
The commonly used measure of dispersion are Standard Deviation (SD) and the
Mean Deviation (MD). Standard deviation is the measure of dispersion about the
mean and mean deviation is the measure of dispersion about the median.
Definition 3 : Mean Deviation
The mean deviation is the mean of the absolute differences of the values
from the mean or median. Thus mean deviation (MD)
| |
1
A x f
n
i i
=
where A is either the mean or median. As the positive and negative
differences leave equal effects, only the absolute value of differences is
taken into account.
Now let us consider the mean deviation from the median.
Mean Deviation from the Median
Mean deviation from the median

n
| d
n
| x x
i
n
i
i
n
i
| |
MD
1 1 = =

=

= ,
n being the total number of observations and x being the median. In case of
a grouped data, the mean deviation about median

i
k
i
i i
k
i
i
k
i
i i
k
i
f
| d f
f
| y y f
1
1
1
1
| |
MD
=
=
=
=

=
where y y d
i i
=
Definition 4 : Standard Deviation
Let us consider a set of n observations . We compute the
sum S of squares of deviations of these observations from an arbitrary
number a.
n
x x x x , . . . , , ,
3 2 1

209

Statistics
So,
2 2
3
2
2
2
1
) ( . . . ) ( ) ( ) ( a x a x a x a x S
n
+ + + + =

2
1
2
1
] ) ( ) [( ) ( a x x x a x
i
n
i
i
n
i
+ = =
= =

where x is the mean of n observations in reference
] ) ( ) ( 2 ) ( ) [(
2 2
1
a x x x a x x x
i i
n
i
+ + =
=

) ( ) ( 2 ) ( ) (
1
2 2
1
x x a x a x n x x
i
n
i
i
n
i
+ + =
= =


2 2
1
) ( ) ( a x n x x
i
n
i
+ =
=

= =
= =
0 ) (
1 1
x n x x x
i
n
i
i
n
i

Clearly, S is minimum when 0 = a x , i.e. when a x = , i.e. when the
deviations are considered from the arithmetic mean.
In view of the above idea, Karl Pearson introduced the concept of standard
deviation. It is most popular measure of dispersion. It is denoted by and is
defined as
(i)
2
1
2
1
) (

=
=
n
x x
i
n
i
. . .
(i)
in case of ungrouped data, and
(ii)
2
1
1
2
1
) (

=
=
=
i
k
i
i i
k
i
f
y y f

in case of grouped data, it being assumed that frequency of a class is
centred at the class mark.
Calculation for standard deviation can be more simplified if we take
deviations of the variates (or class marks) from an assumed mean a.
Let , then . . . (ii) a x d
i i
= a d x
i i
+ =
From Eq. (i),
) 2 (
1
2 2
1
2
x x x x
n
i i
n
i
+ =
=


i
n
i
i
n
i
x
n
x
x n
n
x
n 1
2 2
1
2
) (
1 1
= =
+ =

= + + + =
=
x n n x x x x
n
i
terms upto . . .
1




210
Mathematics-II
) ( 2
1
2 2
1
x n
n
x
x x
n
i
n
i
+ =
=

=
=
i
n
i
x
n
x
1
1


2 2
1
1
x x
n
i
n
i
=
=

or
2
1
2
1
2
1 1

=
= =
i
n
i
i
n
i
x
n
x
n
. . . (iii)

2
1
2
1
) (
1
) (
1

+ + =
= =
a d
n
a d
n
i
n
i
i
n
i
(using (ii))

2
1
2
2 2
1
1
) 2 (
1

+ + + =
= =
a n d
n
a d a d
n
i
n
i
i i
n
i


i
n
i
i
n
i
d
n
a
a n
n
d
n 1
2 2
1
2
) (
1 1
= =
+ + =

+ +

= =
i
n
i
i
n
i
d a n a n d
n 1
2 2
2
1
2
2
1


2
1
2
1
1 1

=
= =
i
n
i
i
n
i
d
n
d
n


2
1
2
1

=
= =
n
d
n
d
i
n
i
i
n
i
. . .
(iv)
In case of grouped data, this formula takes the shape

2
1
2
1

=
= =
n
d f
n
d f
i i
n
i
i i
n
i

where . . . (v)
i
n
i
f n
1 =
=
We can still modify this formula by defining
c
a y
u
i
i

= , c being the class
size.
We are assuming that all classes are of equal width and the frequency of
each class is centred at its class mark. In this method

2
i i
n
1 i
2
i i
n
u f
n
f
c

=
=
. . .
(vi)
Standard deviation is usually abbreviated as SD.

211

Statistics

Example 7.8
Find the SD of the first n natural numbers.
Solution
The series is 1, 2, 3, . . . , n.
We know that
2
1
2
1
2

=
= =
n
x
n
x
i
n
i
i
n
i
. . .
(i)

2
2

=
n
n
n
n
( i x
i
= in this case)

2
2 2
4
) 1 (
6
) 1 2 ( ) 1 (
n
n n
n
n n n +

+ +
=

+
+ =
4
1
6
1 2
) 1 (
n n
n

12
1
12
3 3 2 4
) 1 (
2

+
+ =
n n n
n


Example 7.9
The scores of a batsman in 10 different matches were 38, 70, 48, 34, 42, 55,
63, 46, 54, 44. Find the MD and SD of these scores.
Solution
The scores arranged in ascending order are 34, 38, 42, 44, 46, 48, 54, 55,
63, 70.
Number of observations = 10
Median = Mean of th
2
10
and
th
1
2
10

+ observations
= Mean of 5
th
and 6
th
observations
47
2
48 46
=
+
= .
x
i
34 38 42 44 46 48 54 55 63 70 Total
| x
i
47 |
13 9 5 3 1 1 7 8 16 23 86
Hence
10
23 16 8 7 1 1 3 5 9 13
10
| median |
MD
10
1 + + + + + + + + +
=

=
=
i
i
x

6 . 8
10
86
= =



212
To find the SD, let a = 48, consider the following table
Mathematics-II

x
i
d
i
= x
i
a d
i
2
34 14 196
38 10 100
42 6 36
44 4 16
46 2 4
48 0 0
54 6 36
55 7 49
63 15 225
70 22 484
Total 14 1146

2
2
2

=
n
d
n
d
i i

64 . 112 96 . 1 6 . 114
10
14
10
1146
2
= =

=
61 . 10 64 . 112 = = nearly.


Example 7.10
In a survey of 950 families in a village, the following distribution of number
of children was obtained.
No. of
Children
0 2 2 4 4 6 6 8 8 10 10 12
No. of
Families
272 328 205 120 15 10
Find the mean, median and the standard deviation.
Solution
Let us take a = 5 the assumed mean. We construct the following table
Class-
interval
y
i
f
i
Comm.
f
i
2
5
=
i
i
y
u
2
i
u i i
u f
2
i i
u f
0 2 1 272 272 2 4 544 1088
2 4 3 328 600 1 1 328 328
4 6 5 205 805 0 0 0 0
6 8 7 120 925 1 1 120 120
8 10 9 15 940 2 4 30 60
10 12 11 10 950 3 9 30 90
Total 950 692 1686

213

Statistics
Mean
475
692
5 2
950
692
5 =

+ =

+ = c
f
u f
a
i
i i

= 5 1.457 = 3.543
SD
2
2

=
i
i i
i
i i
f
u f
f
u f
c

2
950
692
950
1686
2

=
2442 . 1 2 5300 . 0 7747 . 1 2 = =
nearly. 23 . 2 115 . 1 2 = =
To find median, we note 475
2
950
2
= =
n
, and the median class is 2 4.
Hence median

+ =

m
m
f
c
f
c
n
l
1
2
2
328
272 475
2
= 2 + 1.238 = 3.238 nearly.


Example 7.11
Calculate the mean deviation for the following data :
Marks No. of Children
0 10 5
10 20 8
20 30 15
30 40 16
40 50 6
Solution
Construct the table (last two columns to be completed after the calculation
of median).
Class y
i
f
i
Comm.
f
i
| 28
i
y | | 28
i i
y | f
0 10 5 5 5 23 115
10 20 15 8 13 13 104
20 30 25 15 28 3 45
30 40 35 16 44 7 112
40 50 45 6 50 17 102
Total 50 478



214
Mathematics-II

25
2
50 = =
n
n .
The class of median is 20 30.
Hence median
m
m
f
c
f
c
n
l

+ =
1
2
10
15
13 25
20
28 8 20 = + =
M. D
i
i i
f
y f

= =
| 28 |
56 . 9
50
478



Example 7.12
The score of 48 children in a test are shown in the following frequency
table :
Score 71 76 79 83 86 89 92 97 10
1
10
3
10
7
11
0
11
4
Frequenc
y
4 3 4 5 6 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 2
Find .
2

Solution
Let a = 90, the assumed mean. Construct the following table
x
i
f
i a x d
i i
=
2
i
d i i
d f
2
i i
d f
71 4 19 361 76 1444
76 3 14 196 42 588
79 4 11 121 44 484
83 5 7 49 35 245
86 6 4 16 24 96
89 5 1 1 5 5
92 4 2 4 8 16
97 4 7 49 28 196
101 3 11 121 33 363
103 3 13 169 39 507
107 3 17 289 51 867
110 2 20 400 40 800
114 2 24 576 48 1152
Total 48 21 6763

2
2
2
2
48
21
48
6763

=
i
i i
i
i i
f
d f
f
d f

705 . 140 191 . 0 896 . 140 = = nearly.

215

Statistics
SAQ 1

(a) The postal expenses on the letters dispatched from an office on a
given day is given in the following frequency distribution :
Postage (P) 15 30 35 60 70
Number of Letters 47 33 56 41 25
Find the mean postage per letter.





(b) The mean age (in years) per student and the number of students in
each of the four classes of two primary schools are given below :
School A School B
No. Mean Age No. Mean Age
Class I 6 6.2 25 7.1
Class II 10 7.5 32 8.4
Class III 28 8.6 12 9.2
Class IV 30 10.0 4 10.7
Obtain the mean age per student for the two schools.





(c) The measurements (in mm) of the diameters of the heads of
107 screws gave the following frequencies distribution.
Diameter 33 35 36 38 39 41 42 44 45 47
Frequency 17 19 23 21 27
Find the mean head diameter per screw.







216

Mathematics-II

(d) The marks obtained out of 50 by 102 students in a test were recorded
and were according to the following frequency table :
Marks 20 22 23 24 26 31 38 43
Number of
Students
8 15 28 27 20 2 1 1
Obtain the median and describe what information it conveys.






SAQ 2

(a) The following table gives the frequency distribution of married
women by age at marriage :
Age
(in years)
15 19 20 - 24 25 - 29 30 - 34 35 - 39
Frequency 53 140 98 32 12
Age
(in years)
40 - 44 45 49 50 54 55 59 60 and
above
Frequency 9 5 3 3 2
Calculate the median.





(b) The following table gives the weekly consumption of electricity of
50 families. Find the mean and median weekly consumption :
Weekly
Consumption
0 10 10 20 20 30 30 40 40 50
Number of
Families
6 12 18 3 1






217

Statistics
(c) The following data is about the number of days patients stayed in a
hospital after an operation. Calculate the SD.
Hospital Stay
(in days)
1 4 4 7 7 10 10 13 13 16 16 19 19 22
Number of
Patients
32 108 67 28 14 7 3





(d) Calculate the SD for the following data :
Wages per
Week up to
(Rs.)
15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120
Number of
Workers
12 30 65 107 157 202 220 225





SAQ 3

(a) Find the SD of the following table :
x
i
140 145 150 155 160 16
5
170 175
f
i
4 6 15 30 36 24 8 2





(b) The length (in cm) of 10 small pieces of cloth were :
5, 3, 9, 12, 3, 10, 12, 21, 18, 12
Find the mean deviation and the standard deviation.






218

Mathematics-II


(c) Find the mean deviation for the following observations
3, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 12, 12, 18, 21, 21.





7.6 SUMMARY
The arithmetic of n individual observations is given
by (denoted by
n
x x x x , . . . , , ,
3 2 1
x )

i
n
i
n
x
n n
x x x
x
1
2 1
1 . . .
=
=
+ + +
=
The arithmetic mean y of a grouped data classified into k classes with
class marks and frequencies is given by
k
y y y , . . . , ,
2 1 k
f f f , . . . , ,
2 1

i
k
i
i i
k
i
i
k
i
i i
k
i
f
d f
a
f
y f
y
1
1
1
1
=
=
=
=

+ =

=
a y d
i i
=
or
i
k
i
i i
k
i
f
u f
c a y

=
=
+ =
1
1

where
c
a y
u
i
i

= , c is the width of the class.
The median M of n individual observations is
n
x x x , . . . , ,
2 1

+ +

+
=
even is f i ,
2
n observatio th 1
2
n observatio th
2
odd is if , n observatio
2
1
th
n
n n
n
n
M
The median M of k observations with frequencies
is given by
k
x x x , . . . , ,
2 1
k
f f f , . . . , ,
2 1

219

Statistics

m
m
f
c
f
c
n
l M

+ =
1
2

where l = lower limit of the median class,
f
m
= frequency of the median class,
c
f 1
= commulative frequency of the class preceding the median
class,
n = sum of all the frequencies, i.e. all the observations, and
c
m
= width of the median class.
The median class being the class which contains the th
2
n

observations.
The mean deviation denoted by MD about median is
, | d |
n
1
n
| x x |
MD
i
k
1 i
i
n
1 i
=
=
=

=
n being the total number of individual observations, x
1
, x
2
, ,x
n
and
x being the median.
In case of grouped data

i
n
i
i i
k
i
i
k
i
i i
k
i
f
| d | f
f
| y y | f
1
1
1
1
) (
MD
=
=
=
=

=
where y y d
i i
= .
The standard deviation denoted by SD or is given by

n
x x
i
n
i
2
1
2
) (
=
=

In case of grouped data

i
k
i
i i
k
i
f
y y f
1
2
1
2
) (
=
=

=
If , where a is an assumed mean then a x d
i i
=

2
1
2
1
2

=
= =
n
d
n
d
i
n
i
i
n
i

and in case of grouped data



220
Mathematics-II


2
1
1
1
2
1
2

=
=
=
=
=
i
k
i
i i
k
i
i
k
i
i
k
i
f
d f
f
d f
i

If we define
c
a y
u
i
i

= , c being the class size, then

=
=
=
=
=
2
1
1
1
2
1
2 2
i
k
i
i i
k
i
i
k
i
i i
k
i
f
u f
f
u f
c .
7.7 ANSWERS TO SAQs
SAQ 1
(a) 38.9 paise.
(b) 8.8 years, 8.2 years.
(c) 40.617 mm.
(d) Median = 23.5, 50% of the student obtain less than 23.5 marks out
of 50.
SAQ 2
(a) Median = 24.5.
(b) 17.2 units, 17.5 units.
(c) 3.75.
(d) 636.1.
SAQ 3
(a) SD = 7.26 nearly.
(b) 4.5, 31.85.
(c)
11
54

FURTHER READINGS
Shanti Narayan, Integral Calculus, by S. Chand & Co.
Georgy Thomas and Ross L. Finney, Calculus and Analytic Geometry, Narosa
Publishing House.
M. K. Singal and Asha Rani Singal, Complete Course in I. S. C. Mathematics
Part-I and Part-II, Pitambar Publishing House.




221

Statistics