Chapter 4: Pre-Statistics Foundations

Practice basic data, averages, spread, and probability skills used in statistics, science, engineering, business, and technical analysis.

What You Will Practice

Pre-statistics builds the foundation for understanding data, graphs, and basic probability. These skills help students read information, make comparisons, and prepare for college statistics.

Types of Data
Mean
Median
Mode
Range
Simple Probability

Mini Lesson

1. Types of Data

Quantitative data are numbers. Qualitative data are categories or labels.

Quantitative: 72 inches, 15 parts, 8.5 grams

Qualitative: red, blue, pass/fail, material type

2. Mean

The mean is the average.

Mean = sum of values ÷ number of values

Example: 5, 7, 8, 10 → sum = 30 → mean = 30 ÷ 4 = 7.5

3. Median

The median is the middle value after the numbers are placed in order.

Example: 2, 9, 5 → ordered: 2, 5, 9 → median = 5

4. Mode

The mode is the value that appears most often.

Example: 3, 4, 4, 6, 7 → mode = 4

5. Range

Range measures how spread out the data are.

Range = largest value - smallest value

Example: 12, 5, 20, 8 → range = 20 - 5 = 15

6. Simple Probability

Probability compares favorable outcomes to total outcomes.

Probability = favorable outcomes ÷ total outcomes

Example: 2 blue balls out of 5 total → probability = 2/5 = 0.4 = 40%

Interactive Pre-Statistics Practice

Choose a topic and practice with instant feedback. For decimal answers, round to two decimal places if needed.

Typing tip: For data type questions, type quantitative or qualitative. For probability, type a decimal such as 0.4 or a percent such as 40%.

Mastery Check

Before moving to Chapter 5, students should be able to do the following.

Data Types

I can identify quantitative and qualitative data.

Mean

I can calculate the average of a dataset.

Median

I can order data and find the middle value.

Mode

I can find the value that appears most often.

Range

I can subtract the smallest value from the largest value.

Probability

I can calculate favorable outcomes divided by total outcomes.

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