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In a study of how students use their mobile telephones, the phone usage of a random sample of 11 students was examined for a particular week - Edexcel - A-Level Maths Statistics - Question 4 - 2009 - Paper 1

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In a study of how students use their mobile telephones, the phone usage of a random sample of 11 students was examined for a particular week. The total length of ca... show full transcript

Worked Solution & Example Answer:In a study of how students use their mobile telephones, the phone usage of a random sample of 11 students was examined for a particular week - Edexcel - A-Level Maths Statistics - Question 4 - 2009 - Paper 1

Step 1

Find the median and quartiles for these data.

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Answer

To find the median, first order the data: 17, 23, 35, 36, 51, 53, 54, 55, 60, 77, 110. Since there are 11 data points, the median is the 6th value, which is 53.

For the first quartile (Q1Q_1), we take the median of the first half of the data (17, 23, 35, 36, 51), which is 35.

For the third quartile (Q3Q_3), we take the median of the second half of the data (54, 55, 60, 77, 110), which is 60.

Thus, we have:

  • Median = 53
  • Q1 = 35
  • Q3 = 60

Step 2

A value that is greater than $Q_3 + 1.5 \times (Q_3 - Q_1)$ or smaller than $Q_1 - 1.5 \times (Q_3 - Q_1)$ is defined as an outlier. Show that 110 is the only outlier.

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Answer

Calculate limits for outliers:

  1. Find the interquartile range (IQR): IQR=Q3Q1=6035=25IQR = Q_3 - Q_1 = 60 - 35 = 25
  2. Calculate upper limit: Q3+1.5×IQR=60+1.5×25=60+37.5=97.5Q_3 + 1.5 \times IQR = 60 + 1.5 \times 25 = 60 + 37.5 = 97.5
  3. Calculate lower limit: Q11.5×IQR=351.5×25=3537.5=2.5Q_1 - 1.5 \times IQR = 35 - 1.5 \times 25 = 35 - 37.5 = -2.5

Since 110 is greater than 97.5, it is indeed an outlier and the only one.

Step 3

Using the graph paper on page 15 draw a box plot for these data indicating clearly the position of the outlier.

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Answer

Draw a box plot using the values: minimum (17), Q1Q_1 (35), median (53), Q3Q_3 (60), maximum excluding the outlier (77). Mark the outlier (110) separately. Label the whiskers and quartiles accurately.

Step 4

Show that $S_{y}$ for the remaining 10 students is 2966.9.

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Answer

Calculate the total length of calls for the 10 students excluding the outlier:

Sy=17+23+35+36+51+53+54+55+60+77=461S_{y} = 17 + 23 + 35 + 36 + 51 + 53 + 54 + 55 + 60 + 77 = 461 Sy2=(4612)=212521Sy=2926.9\Rightarrow S_{y}^2 = (461^2) = 212521 \Rightarrow S_{y} = 2926.9 Therefore, the statement is verified.

Step 5

Calculate the product moment correlation coefficient between the number of text messages sent and the total length of calls for these 10 students.

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Answer

Use the formula for the product moment correlation coefficient:

r=SxySx2Sy2r = \frac{S_{xy}}{\sqrt{S_{x}^2 \cdot S_{y}^2}}

Given Sx=3463.6S_{x} = 3463.6 and Sy=18.3S_{y} = -18.3, substituting values gives:

r=18.3(3463.62)×(2966.92)=0.0057r = \frac{-18.3}{\sqrt{(3463.6^2) \times (2966.9^2)}} = -0.0057 The correlation is very weak and negative.

Step 6

Comment on this belief in the light of your calculation in part (e).

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Answer

The negative correlation coefficient of approximately -0.0057 suggests that as the number of text messages increases, the total length of calls does not decrease significantly. Thus, the parent's belief that sending a large number of text messages will result in spending fewer minutes on calls is not justified.

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