Maths - Handling Data

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Adam Warlow.                                                                                                                                          Pg 1

Maths Handling Data Coursework.

In this coursework I will be investigating whether or not height affects weight by looking at data from years 10 and 11 at Mayfield High School. I would expect that taller people will weigh more but obviously there will exceptions as some people are tall and skinny and some are short and broader, but generally the taller people should weigh more. I also expect year 11 to be taller and therefore weigh more than year 10 as they are older and should have grown more.

The data that I have been provided with is secondary data as I have not collected it myself. I intend to get a sample of 60 from the database consisting of 370 students. This sample will be a fair sample with each person having an equal chance of being chosen. I will ensure this is a fair sample by doing a stratified random sample in order to get a correct proportion of year 10 and 11 students. The year groups will be separated and each person in the year group given a number. Then I will use the random number button on my calculator, I will do this until I have the number of year 10 students I want, and then I will do the same for year 11 students. Using a stratified sample makes sure that there is no bias to both year groups and by using the random number button on my calculator ensures there is no bias towards any person and everyone has an equal opportunity of being chosen.

By sampling, I am both saving time and making the calculations needed to be performed easier although I am losing some accuracy, the amount of accuracy lost should not damage the results too much.

I want to find the mean average height and weight of years 10 and 11 together and years 10 and 11 separately. Then I will want to find out whether or not there is a correlation between height and weight of year 10 and year 11 students. I will also be looking at how the data for height a weight is distributed for each year group.

I will interpret the data showing the year group, height and weight of each student in a table. Out of 370 students in year 10 and 11 together, 200 of them were from year 10 and 170 of the students were from year 11. My sample of 60 was a stratified random sample as follows:

Year 10 = 200 x 60 = 32

        370        

                                           Year 11 = 170 x 60 = 32

                                                            370

Before presenting this data in tables, graphs and charts I should look at the data to check for any anomalies and to make sure the data is acceptable. After looking at the data carefully I have come to the conclusion that all the data is acceptable. I was looking for anyone 2m tall and over or 1.30m tall or lower. I was also checking for weights of 90kg + and 40kg. However one pupil has a height of 1.03, at first this is hard to believe but then their weight is only 45kg so this is understandable. There are 2 people with a weight of fewer than 40kg but seeing as there are two people this should be acceptable.

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Adam Warlow.                                                                                                                                          Pg 2

I put this data into a set of pie charts as pie charts can often make data easier to recognise and understand. I will do pie ...

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