NAME _____________________________________________ DATE ____________________________ PERIOD _____________
12-3 Study Guide and Intervention
Distributions of Data
Describing Distributions A distribution of data shows the frequency of each possible data value. The shape of a
distribution can be determined by looking at its histogram.
Example: Use a graphing calculator to construct a histogram for the data, and use it to describe the shape of the
distribution.
13, 38, 18, 20, 40, 22, 44, 24, 43, 39, 26, 28, 30, 43, 44, 33, 35, 32
36, 43, 16, 37, 38, 40, 25, 40, 31, 32, 25, 43, 23, 44, 39, 34, 46, 45
Use a graphing calculator to enter the data into L1 and create a
histogram. Adjust the window to the dimensions shown. The graph is
high on the right. Therefore, the distribution is negatively skewed.
Exercises
Use a graphing calculator to construct a histogram for the data, and use it to describe the shape of the distribution.
1. 52, 75, 77, 60, 79, 63,
55, 57, 64, 82, 65, 66,
70, 89, 88, 67, 71, 72
2. 77, 61, 72, 65, 69, 62,
63, 75, 64, 89, 64, 86,
64, 74, 65, 71, 66, 67
3. 46, 41, 45, 48, 49, 31,
47, 36, 48, 38, 47, 39,
49, 40, 48, 46, 34, 42
72, 74, 59, 75, 78, 80,
83, 66, 83, 62, 76, 68,
73, 71, 84, 54, 85, 92
69, 70, 80, 66, 71, 68,
74, 65, 75, 79, 68, 79,
63, 82, 62, 76, 84, 63
44, 47, 43, 37, 47, 45,
48, 42, 49, 44, 41, 50,
33, 43, 46, 37, 40, 43
Chapter 12
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Glencoe Algebra 1
NAME _____________________________________________ DATE ____________________________ PERIOD _____________
12-3 Study Guide and Intervention (continued)
Distributions of Data
Analyzing Distributions When describing a distribution, use
• the mean and standard deviation if the distribution is symmetric, or
• the five-number summary if the distribution is skewed.
Example: Describe the center and spread of the data using either the mean and standard deviation or the fivenumber summary. Justify your choice by constructing a box-and-whisker plot for the data.
53, 49, 47, 50, 53, 58, 34, 62, 35, 37, 65, 38, 35, 39, 73, 40, 70, 57
28, 41, 40, 26, 43, 33, 30, 44, 27, 39, 47, 31, 52, 60, 36, 68, 70, 28
Use a graphing calculator to enter the data into L1 and create a box-andwhisker plot. The right whisker is longer than the left and the median is
closer to the left whisker. Therefore, the distribution is positively skewed.
The distribution is positively skewed, so use the five-number summary. The
range is 73 – 26 or 47. The median is 42, and half of the data are between 35
and 55.
Exercises
Describe the center and spread of the data using either the mean and standard deviation or the five-number
summary. Justify your choice by constructing a box-and-whisker plot for the data.
1. 4, 25, 24, 2, 10, 11, 26, 28, 13, 25, 26, 14, 16, 17, 27, 29, 30, 1
6, 20, 17, 1, 21, 13, 22, 24, 19, 30, 12, 24, 29, 18, 26, 23, 22, 31
2. 17, 50, 46, 49, 18, 27, 20, 29, 45, 42, 30, 53, 32, 54, 33, 39, 36, 64
40, 62, 41, 43, 26, 22, 35, 44, 61, 52, 34, 59, 36, 57, 38, 58, 23, 47
3. 73, 48, 64, 49, 55, 57, 68, 50, 49, 78, 59, 82, 50, 81, 54, 65, 84, 53
57, 70, 59, 83, 71, 54, 75, 78, 53, 80, 77, 65, 69, 52, 58, 58, 61, 56
Chapter 12
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Glencoe Algebra 1