This article has been reproduced with the permission of Access Education and authored by Joe Wilson.

Are you familiar with the difference between ‘Numerical data’ and ‘Categorical data’?

You will be expected to create summary statistics to represent numerical data. Commonly used summary statistics are:
measures of centre: mean, median, mode
measures of spread: range, IQR, standard deviation

You will need to recognize the pairing of each measure of ‘centre’, with a measure of ‘spread’. When obvious outlier(s) exist in a data set, can you determine which pair of summary statistics is the most appropriate – mean with standard deviation, or
median with IQR?

More importantly, do you know why that pair is the most appropriate?

(Outliers have a greater effect on both the mean and the standard deviation than they do on the median and the IQR. This is why the median house price and not the mean house price is the statistic used to represent a summary of house price sales. If recent house prices for a particular area contain ‘outlier(s)’ then the mean house price may not provide a typical or reliable summary statistic for that area).

You will also be expected to summarise data using common graphs such as dotplot, column chart, stemplot, boxplot and histogram. You need to be familiar with the connection between the type of raw data provided and the graphical display that is best suited to that particular data type.

Check the reasonableness of your answers:

The number of fish caught by Jeremy over a 7 day period was:
10, 12, 12, 11, 12, 13, 21.
Find the average number of fish caught (note: this is a very simple question, however it illustrates the importance of checking your answers for reasonableness)

An incorrect response to this problem occurs if parenthesis (brackets) are ignored when using your calculator keystrokes. The simple error would be detected by checking your answer.

Applications of standard skills:

Your ability to apply your knowledge in unfamiliar situations will be tested. Be aware that completing all of the set questions in your textbook does not guarantee that you have seen every possible question on assessment tasks. To illustrate this point, let’s reconsider the number of fish caught by Jeremy. Your textbook may require the direct calculation of the five number summary of this data set. However, an alternative question might request you to identify the effect on the five number summary if the value ‘21’ fish was an error and it was replaced by the correct value of ‘56’ fish.

Prepare solidly over summer. Be organized from day one. Begin the year with confidence and direction. Good luck.

Access Education is Victoria’s largest provider of VCE subject based Unit 3 & 4 exam revision programs. Covering a range of up to 17 subjects and offered in Melbourne at 3 locations as well as a further 6 locations in regional Victoria – Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Gippsland, Shepparton and Wodonga. Every year many thousands of students attend our quality, low-cost revision programs to give themselves an extra “edge” in preparing for their exams. The comprehensive notes which accompany each lecture are written specifically by the presenter for the lecture and become a valuable resource in students personal revision programs.

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