Statistics worksheet — GCSE Foundation

1.A recruitment agency in Manchester compares the weekly pay, in pounds, of seven employees at two branches. Branch A: £480, £495, £500, £505, £510, £515, £1,200. Branch B: £480, £490, £500, £510, £520, £530, £540. An advert for the agency claims 'Branch A pays more on average.' Decide whether this claim is fairly supported, using an appropriate average, and choose the correct conclusion.

2.Priya wants to find out the favourite sport of the 900 pupils at her school. She asks 5 pupils, chosen at random. Give a reason why her sample may not give a reliable result.

3.A scatter graph has 50 points. Most of them lie close to a rising line of best fit, but two of them lie a long way from that line. Write down how those two points should be treated.

4.A garden centre records its total sales, in pounds, at the end of each of the twelve months of one year, to see how sales change over time. Write down the most suitable type of chart to show this time series data.

5.The table shows the times, t minutes, that 30 pupils took to walk to school. 0 < t ≤ 10: 8 pupils. 10 < t ≤ 20: 12 pupils. 20 < t ≤ 30: 6 pupils. 30 < t ≤ 40: 4 pupils. Write down which average can be given exactly from this table, and give a reason for your answer.

6.A scatter graph shows the mass, x kg, of a parcel and the cost, y pounds, of posting it. The line of best fit is y = 1.5x + 2. Work out the estimated cost of posting a parcel with a mass of 6 kg, using the line of best fit.

7.The times taken, in minutes, by 30 runners in a Portsmouth fun run are grouped in this table: 0 < t ≤ 20 — 5 runners, 20 < t ≤ 40 — 10 runners, 40 < t ≤ 60 — 10 runners, 60 < t ≤ 80 — 5 runners. Work out an estimate for the mean time, in minutes.

8.On a scatter graph the horizontal axis shows height in centimetres and the vertical axis shows mass in kilograms. One point is plotted at (170, 65). Write down the height and the mass of that person.

9.A survey of 25 pupils in Derby records how many siblings each has: 0 siblings — 6 pupils, 1 sibling — 10 pupils, 2 siblings — 6 pupils, 3 siblings — 3 pupils. Calculate the mean number of siblings.

10.For each of 30 fires in one county, the number of fire engines sent and the cost of the damage were recorded. The scatter graph of the data shows strong positive correlation. A newspaper prints the headline "Sending more fire engines causes more damage". Is the newspaper right? Give a reason for your answer.

11.Four pairs of variables are listed below. Write down the pair that you would expect to show negative correlation.

12.In a random sample of 40 pupils at a school, 6 are left-handed. The school has 900 pupils. Work out an estimate for the number of left-handed pupils in the school.

13.The seven members of Team A took 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 40 seconds to finish a task. The seven members of Team B took 20, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40 seconds. Tomás says that because the two teams have the same range, their times are spread out in the same way. Is Tomás right? Give a reason for your answer.

14.Isla wants to find out the favourite television programme of the pupils at her school. She asks only her own close group of friends. Write down what is wrong with her sample.

15.A town council wants to find out about the eating habits of the people who live in the town. It asks only the members of a local sports club. Give a reason why this sample is biased.