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Chapter 9 Project
Analyzing Height Data
The set of data below was gathered from a class of 30 precalculus students. Use this set of data or collet the data for your own class and use it for analysis.
| Height of students in inches | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 66 | 69 | 72 | 64 | 68 |
| 70 | 71 | 66 | 65 | 63 |
| 72 | 59 | 64 | 63 | 66 |
| 68 | 63 | 64 | 71 | 71 |
| 69 | 62 | 61 | 67 | 69 |
| 64 | 73 | 75 | 61 | 70 |
EXPLORATIONS
- Create a stem and leaf plot of the data using split stems.
From this data, what is the approximate average height of a student
in class?
- Create a frequency table for the data using an interval
of 2. What information does this give?
- Create a histogram for the data using an interval of
2. What conclusions can you draw from this representation of the data?
Can you estimate the average height for males and the average height
for females?
- Compute the mean, median and mode for the data set. Discuss
whether each is a good measure of the average height of a student in
the class. Is each a good pedictor for average height of students in
other precalculus classes?
- What can you say about the data if the mean and median
values are close?
- Find the five-number summary for the class heights.
- Create a boxplot and explain what informtaion it gives
about the data set.
- A new student is now added to the class. He is a 7'2"
star basketball player. Add his height to the data set. Recalculuate
the mean, median and five-number summary. Create a new boxplot and use
your calculator to plot it underneath the boxplot for the original class.
How does this new student affect the statistics?
- Explain why this new student would be considered an outlier
and the importance of identifying outliers when calculating statistics
and making predictions from them.
- Suppose now that three additional basketball players transferred to the classs. They are 7'0", 6'11" and 6'10". Recalculate the statistics from number 9 and discuss the implications of using these statistics to make predictions for other precalculus classes.
FURTHER EXPLORATIONS
- Working in pairs gather height data for your precalculus
class.
- Repeat the analyses done in #1 through #7 for this data.
- Obtain the height data for the National Basketball Association
team of your choice by visiting the NBA web site (http://www.nba.com/teamindex.html).
- Repeat the analyses done in #1 through #7 for this data.
- Make a side-by-side boxplot of the three height data
sets. Write a comparative analysis of the three data sets on the basis
of your findings. (See Example 8 on page 778.)