2. Math Reflections Looking at Data

3. Organizing and Interpreting Data How are a table, a line plot and a bar graph alike?

4. Think About It They are all tools for organizing and visualizing data. A line plot has a horizontal axis which shows the possible values above the numbers with x’s marking the number of times each value occurs. Bar graphs indicate values by the height of the bar.

5. Useful Statistics What does the mode tell you about the distribution of a set of data? Can the mode be used to describe both categorical and numerical data? What does the median tell you about the distribution of a set of data? Can the median be used to describe both categorical and numerical data?

6. Mode and Median Mode is the value in the data set that occurs most frequently. There may be more than one mode. The median is the value that divides an ordered set of data in half; half the data are below the median and half the data are above the median. The median can only be used with numerical data, categorical data cannot be ordered.

7. Mode vs. Median Can the mode and the median of a set of data be the same values? Can they be different? Explain. The mode and the median for a set of data May or may not be the same. 1,2,3,3,4,5,6 1,1,1,3,5,6,6

8. Range Why is it helpful to give the range when you describe the distribution of a set of data? Can the range be used to describe both categorical and numerical data? How is the range of a set of data related to how the data vary from the least value to the greatest value?

9. Range The range is the difference between the least and the greatest data values. The range indicates how spread out the data is. Combined with a measure of center such as the median and the mode, the range helps to give a picture of the data. (Range can only be used to describe numerical data.)

10. Distribution How can you describe what is typical about the distribution of a set of numbers? The mode, the median, and range can be used to describe what is typical about a data set. Giving information about the shape of the data also helps describe what is typical.