Descriptive Statistics

Calculate and interpret measures of central tendency and spread for IB Maths.

Descriptive statistics summarise data. IB Maths requires mean, median, mode, quartiles, variance, and standard deviation.

Measures of Centre

  • Mean: xˉ=xn\bar{x} = \frac{\sum x}{n} or xˉ=fxf\bar{x} = \frac{\sum fx}{\sum f} (grouped).
  • Median: middle value. Q2.
  • Mode: most frequent.

Measures of Spread

  • Range: max − min.
  • IQR: Q3 − Q1.
  • Variance: σ2=(xxˉ)2n=x2nxˉ2\sigma^2 = \frac{\sum(x-\bar{x})^2}{n} = \frac{\sum x^2}{n} - \bar{x}^2.
  • Standard deviation: σ=variance\sigma = \sqrt{\text{variance}}.

Box Plots and Cumulative Frequency

Box plot: min, Q1, median, Q3, max. Outliers: beyond Q11.5×IQRQ1 - 1.5 \times IQR or Q3+1.5×IQRQ3 + 1.5 \times IQR.

Practice Problems

    1. Find mean and SD: 4, 7, 8, 10, 11.
    1. From a cumulative frequency curve, estimate the median and IQR.

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Key Takeaways

  • Use GDC for calculations, but understand the formulas.

  • SD measures spread around the mean.

  • Outlier rule: 1.5×IQR1.5 \times IQR beyond quartiles.

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