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Worked Examples · Example 3
Q.

The marks obtained by 50 students in a Business Mathematics test are grouped as follows. Find the Quartile Deviation and its Coefficient.

Marks0–1010–2020–3030–4040–50
Number of students (ff)51020105
ChseodishaTextbookSubjectiveImportance★★★★★est
13% · 8/61 Questions
✓ Free question

Step 1 — Build the cumulative frequency table.

Classffc.f.
0–1055
10–201015
20–302035
30–401045
40–50550

N=50N=50.

Step 2 — Locate the Q1Q_1 class and interpolate. N/4=12.5N/4=12.5. The c.f. first reaches or exceeds 12.5 at class 10–20 (c.f.=15=15): L=10L=10, cf=5cf=5, f=10f=10, h=10h=10.

Q1=L+(N/4−cff)×h=10+(12.5−510)×10=10+7.5=17.5Q_1 = L+\left(\dfrac{N/4-cf}{f}\right)\times h = 10+\left(\dfrac{12.5-5}{10}\right)\times10 = 10+7.5 = 17.5

Step 3 — Locate the Q3Q_3 class and interpolate. 3N/4=37.53N/4=37.5. The c.f. first reaches or exceeds 37.5 at class 30–40 (c.f.=45=45): L=30L=30, cf=35cf=35, f=10f=10, h=10h=10.

Q3=30+(37.5−3510)×10=30+2.5=32.5Q_3 = 30+\left(\dfrac{37.5-35}{10}\right)\times10 = 30+2.5 = 32.5

Step 4 — Compute QD and its coefficient.

QD=32.5−17.52=152=7.5QD = \dfrac{32.5-17.5}{2} = \dfrac{15}{2} = 7.5

Coefficient of QD=32.5−17.532.5+17.5=1550=0.3\text{Coefficient of QD} = \dfrac{32.5-17.5}{32.5+17.5} = \dfrac{15}{50} = 0.3

Independent check. N/4=12.5N/4=12.5 and 3N/4=37.53N/4=37.5 sum to exactly N=50N=50's middle half-span (37.5−12.5=25=N/237.5-12.5=25=N/2), confirming the two thresholds are correctly placed a full N/2N/2 apart, as they always must be.

✓Final answer

Q1=17.5Q_1=17.5, Q3=32.5Q_3=32.5; QD=15/2=7.5QD=15/2=7.5 marks; Coefficient of QD =15/50=0.3=15/50=0.3

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