SPS SPS SM Mechanics 2021 January — Question 4

Exam BoardSPS
ModuleSPS SM Mechanics (SPS SM Mechanics)
Year2021
SessionJanuary
TopicMeasures of Location and Spread
TypeCalculate variance from summary statistics

4. Each member of a group of 27 people was timed when completing a puzzle.
The time taken, \(x\) minutes, for each member of the group was recorded.
These times are summarised in the following box and whisker plot.
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  1. Find the range of the times.
  2. Find the interquartile range of the times. For these 27 people \(\sum x = 607.5\) and \(\sum x ^ { 2 } = 17623.25\)
  3. calculate the mean time taken to complete the puzzle,
  4. calculate the standard deviation of the times taken to complete the puzzle. Taruni defines an outlier as a value more than 3 standard deviations above the mean.
  5. State how many outliers Taruni would say there are in these data, giving a reason for your answer. Adam and Beth also completed the puzzle in \(a\) minutes and \(b\) minutes respectively, where \(a > b\).
    When their times are included with the data of the other 27 people
    • the median time increases
    • the mean time does not change
    • Suggest a possible value for \(a\) and a possible value for \(b\), explaining how your values satisfy the above conditions.
    • Without carrying out any further calculations, explain why the standard deviation of all 29 times will be lower than your answer to part (d).