Functional Question Foundation (Statistics 7) For the week beginning ….

Fastbus and Quickline run buses on the same routes. Paul and Sally are comparing the service of Fastbus and Quickline. The table shows the advertised journey time for each of nine routes. It also shows the number of minutes late for the first bus on each route one morning. Example: Route A - Fastbus 5 minutes late, Quickline on time (0 minutes late) (a) Write down the advertised journey time for Quickline on route B. Give your answer in hours and minutes. (1) (b) How many more minutes late was Fastbus than Quickline on route F? (2) (c) Show that the median number of minutes late for Fastbus is 5 minutes. (2) FastbusQuickline Mean number of minutes late10 Median number of minutes late50 Modal number of minutes late50 (d) Complete the table below by working out the mean number of minutes late for Quickline. (2) (e) Paul and Sally disagree over who has the better bus service, Fastbus or Quickline. (i) Paul says that Fastbus is better. Give one reason why Paul could be correct. (1) (ii) Sally says that Quickline is better. Give one reason why Sally could be correct. (1) (f) Give one other factor which could be used to compare the service of Fastbus and Quickline. (1) (Total 10 marks)

(a) 1 (hour) 10 (minutes) B1 - Marks awarded independent of method (b) 20 – 5 M1 – Method mark 15 A1 - Marks awarded independent of method (c) Orders data 0, 0, 5, 5, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 allow one error M1 – Method mark Shows choice of middle value clearly SC1 Full description in words without values shown A1 - Marks awarded independent of method (d) For mean attempts to add up all values and divides by 9 M1 – Method mark Mean = 15 In table or working but table wins A1 - Marks awarded independent of method

(e) (i) Smaller mean minutes late Journey times (same or) shorter oe has fewer big late values Must be comparative statement B1 - Marks awarded independent of method (ii) Smaller median minutes late Smaller mode of minutes late oe on time more often Must be comparative statement B1 - Marks awarded independent of method (f) Fare prices could be compared or quality of the bus (or service) could be considered oe - value for money, pick up points any sensible suggestionDo not accept further references to tabulated data B1 - Marks awarded independent of method [10]

The responses to this question as a whole were very encouraging. The large amount of data did not seem to put candidates off and there was no evidence of candidates not attempting all parts due to the question’s length. All of parts (a), (b) and (c) were well answered and there was good recognition of the different types of average enabling (d) to be quite well answered too. Common errors usually centred on dividing by a number other than 9. Part (e) was answered well, especially the first part, with many correct comments about the mean or journey times. Part (e)(ii) was slightly more difficult in that wording had to be more careful chosen to ensure that a comparison was made. In part (f) too many reproduced information from the table instead of looking for another factor such as price, standard or frequency of service. Common Mistakes – what did the examiners say?