Question

When the General Social Survey asked subjects of age 18-25 in 2004 how many people they were in contact with at least once a year, the responses had the following summary statistics: mean: 20.2 mode: 10 standard deviation: 28.7 minimum: 0 Q1: 5 median: 10 Q3: 25 maximum: 300

Answer 1

They are in contact with 20 people at least once in a year.

Explanation:

We are given the basic summary statistics:

Mean = 20.2

Mode = 10

Median = 10

Standard deviation = 28.7

1st quartile = 5

3rd quartile = 25

Minimum = 0

Maximum = 300.

Out of all these statistics, we know that the median is the middle value or mid-value. Thus, by formula, we have that:

median = n/2. Thus,

==> 10 = n/2

==> n = 2*10 = 20

NB: From the distribution of the summary statistics, we can clearly see that there is evidence of outlier in the series. Thus, median is the most appropriate statistic (because is not affected by outlier) to give a true picture of the data series or sets.