Curriculum links
Mathematics and Statistics: Statistics strand – level 4
Plan and conduct investigations using the statistical enquiry cycle:
- determining appropriate variables and data collection methods
- gathering, sorting, and displaying multivariate category
- comparing distributions visually
- communicating findings, using appropriate displays.
Background
There are two activities in this resource. The first, Am I average?, uses the SURF for Schools dataset to explore the idea of the average person.
You may want to use a subset of the dataset where students are analysing the data manually.
The sample answers below are to show one way of answering the question about what defines the average person, and what sorts of comments are expected for justifications. It is not the only, or necessarily the best, way of doing the activity.
The second activity, Good stuff, has students collect their own data.
Possible analyses
Analysis and conclusions may be drawn from tables (see below) or from graphs (histograms, bar charts, pie charts).
Frequency table for five year age groups
| Age group (years) |
frequency |
Percentage |
| 20 –24 |
35 |
11.67 |
| 25 – 29 |
44 |
14.67 |
| 30 – 34 |
59 |
19.67 |
| 35 – 39 |
59 |
19.67 |
| 40 – 44 |
51 |
17 |
| 45 – 49 |
52 |
17.33 |
Frequency table for employment status
| Employment |
Frequency |
Percentage |
| Employed |
196 |
65.33 |
| Not employed |
104 |
34.67 |
Frequency table for ethnicity
| Ethnicity |
Frequency |
Percent |
| European |
232 |
77.33 |
| Māori |
36 |
12 |
| Other |
32 |
10.67 |
Frequency table for qualification obtained
| Qualification |
Frequency |
Percent |
| None |
88 |
29.33 |
| School |
113 |
37.67 |
| Vocational |
66 |
22 |
| Degree |
33 |
11 |
Frequency table for partner status
| Partnered |
Frequency |
Percent |
| No partner |
166 |
44.33 |
| Partner |
167 |
55.67 |
Frequency table for sex
| Sex |
Frequency |
Percentage |
| Male |
153 |
51 |
| Female |
147 |
49 |
Summary statistics for the numerical values
| Variable |
Minimum |
Lower quartile |
Median |
Upper quartile |
Maximum |
| Age |
20 |
29 |
36 |
42.5 |
49 |
| Age of partner |
0 |
0 |
0 |
32.5 |
54 |
| Wages/salary ($) |
0 |
2,500.00 |
11,000.00 |
23,500.00 |
61,000.00 |
| Total income ($) |
0 |
16,000.00 |
36,000.00 |
59,000.00 |
157,000.00 |
| Total debt ($) |
0 |
14,000.00 |
37,000.00 |
59,000.00 |
183,000.00 |
| Total net worth ($) |
-127,000.00 |
36,500.00 |
118,500.00 |
211,000.00 |
533,000.00 |