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Step-by-Step Guidance for Statistics Midterm Practice Problems

Study Guide - Smart Notes

Tailored notes based on your materials, expanded with key definitions, examples, and context.

Q23. The graph shows Yelp ratings for Hot Doug’s Restaurant. What was the most popular rating? How many ratings were posted? What percentage of ratings were 5-star ratings? What is the shape of this distribution?

Background

Topic: Descriptive Statistics & Data Visualization

This question tests your ability to interpret bar graphs, calculate percentages, and describe the shape of a distribution.

Yelp Ratings for Hot Doug's

Key Terms and Formulas:

  • Frequency: The number of times a particular rating was given.

  • Percentage:

  • Distribution Shape: Describes how data is spread (e.g., skewed left, skewed right, symmetric).

Step-by-Step Guidance

  1. Examine the bar graph and identify the frequency for each star rating. Note which bar is the tallest to determine the most popular rating.

  2. Add up the frequencies for all star ratings to find the total number of ratings posted.

  3. Calculate the percentage of 5-star ratings using the formula:

  4. Observe the distribution of the bars. If most ratings are at the higher end (e.g., 5 stars), and fewer at the lower end, describe the shape (e.g., skewed left).

Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!

Final Answer:

The most popular rating is 5 stars. There were 2,747 ratings posted. The percentage of 5-star ratings is approximately 61% (). The shape of the distribution is skewed left, as most ratings are at the higher end.

Q24. An experiment was conducted in which two 6-sided dice were thrown 100 times. The sum of the pips was recorded and is shown in the graph below. What was the most frequent outcome? What was the least frequent outcome? Determine the percentage of times a 5 was observed. What is the shape of the distribution?

Background

Topic: Probability Distributions & Data Visualization

This question tests your ability to interpret histograms, identify modes, calculate percentages, and describe distribution shapes.

Sum of Two Dice Histogram

Key Terms and Formulas:

  • Mode: The value that appears most frequently.

  • Percentage:

  • Distribution Shape: Bell-shaped (normal-like) if the frequencies are highest in the middle and lower at the extremes.

Step-by-Step Guidance

  1. Look at the histogram and identify which sum (value) has the highest bar. This is the most frequent outcome.

  2. Identify which sum has the lowest bar. This is the least frequent outcome.

  3. Find the frequency for the sum of 5 and use the formula:

  4. Describe the shape of the distribution by observing the pattern of the bars. If the middle values are most frequent and the extremes are less frequent, it is bell-shaped.

Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!

Final Answer:

The most frequent outcome is 7. The least frequent outcome is 12. The percentage of times a 5 was observed is approximately 9%. The shape of the distribution is bell-shaped.

Q26. The stem plot below shows the ages of best actress winners from 2003 to 2022. What is the age of the oldest and youngest winners?

Background

Topic: Data Visualization (Stem-and-Leaf Plot)

This question tests your ability to read a stem-and-leaf plot and identify minimum and maximum values.

Best Actress Age Stem Plot

Key Terms and Formulas:

  • Stem-and-Leaf Plot: A graphical method to display quantitative data, showing individual values.

  • Minimum/Maximum: The smallest and largest values in the data set.

Step-by-Step Guidance

  1. Read the stem-and-leaf plot. The "stem" represents the tens digit, and the "leaf" represents the units digit.

  2. Identify the smallest leaf in the lowest stem for the youngest winner.

  3. Identify the largest leaf in the highest stem for the oldest winner.

Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!

Final Answer:

The youngest winner was 22 years old, and the oldest winner was 74 years old.

Q29. Thirty students were randomly selected and asked how many speeding tickets they’ve gotten in the last month. The results are shown in the histogram below. Describe the shape of the histogram. Based on this shape, would you expect the mean to be greater than, equal to, or less than the median? Find the mean, median, and mode.

Background

Topic: Descriptive Statistics & Data Visualization

This question tests your ability to interpret histograms, describe distribution shapes, and relate shape to measures of center.

Speeding Tickets Histogram

Key Terms and Formulas:

  • Histogram: A graphical representation of the distribution of numerical data.

  • Skewed Right: Distribution with a longer tail on the right side.

  • Mean, Median, Mode: Measures of center; mean is the average, median is the middle value, mode is the most frequent value.

Step-by-Step Guidance

  1. Examine the histogram and describe its shape. If most values are at the lower end and the tail extends to the right, it is skewed right.

  2. Recall that in a right-skewed distribution, the mean is typically greater than the median.

  3. To find the mean, add up all the values and divide by the number of students.

  4. To find the median, arrange the values in order and find the middle value.

  5. To find the mode, identify the value that appears most frequently.

Try solving on your own before revealing the answer!

Final Answer:

The shape is skewed right. The mean is greater than the median. The mean is 0.43, the median is 0, and the mode is 0.

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