The Excel function =RANDBETWEEN(a,b) generates a random integer value between a and b. Open Excel. Copy and paste the Excel function into 30 cells (rows) starting at Column A at A1. Create 30 random v

Excel provides functions for computing the mean, median, and mode. We illustrate the use of these functions by computing the mean, median, and mode for the starting salary data in Table 3.1. Refer to Figure 3.2 as we describe the tasks involved. The formula worksheet is in the background; the value worksheet is in the foreground.

Figure 3.2Excel Worksheet Used to Compute the Mean, Median, and Mode for the Starting Salary Data

The Excel function =RANDBETWEEN(a,b) generates a random integer value between a and b. Open Excel. Copy and paste the Excel function into 30 cells (rows) starting at Column A at A1. Create 30 random v 1

Enter/Access Data: Open the file StartingSalaries. The data are in cells B2:B13 and labels are in column A and cell B1.

Enter Functions and Formulas: Excel’s AVERAGE function can be used to compute the mean by entering the following formula in cell E2:

Supplementary Exercises

Americans Dining Out. Americans tend to dine out multiple times per week. The number of times a sample of 20 families dined out last week provides the following data.
1. Compute the mean and median.

Answer

The data in ascending order follow.

Position	Value	Position	Value
		11
		12
		13
		14
		15
		16
		17
		18
		19
10		20

The mean is 2.95 and the median is 3.

1. Compute the first and third quartiles.

Answer

First quartile or 25th percentile = 1 + . 25(1 − 1) = 1

Third quartile or 75th percentile = 4 + . 75(5 − 4) = 4.75

1. Compute the range and interquartile range.

Answer

The range is 7 and the interquartile range is 4.75 − 1 = 3.75.

1. Compute the variance and standard deviation.

Answer

The variance is 4.37 and standard deviation is 2.09.

1. The skewness measure for these data is .34. Comment on the shape of this distribution. Is it the shape you would expect? Why or why not?

Answer

Because most people dine out a relatively few times per week and a few families dine out very frequently, we would expect the data to be positively skewed. The skewness measure of 0.34 indicates the data are somewhat skewed to the right.

1. Do the data contain outliers?

Answer

The lower limit is −4.625 and the upper limit is 10.375. No values in the data are less than the lower limit or greater than the upper limit, so there are no outliers.