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Mathematical Techniques - Descriptive Statistics

Unit: Quantitative Analysis

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August 2025

3 Questions
Question 1a
​​Using appropriate formular, differentiate between “variance” and “standard deviation” as used in statistics.


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Question 2d
​ ​ ​ ​ ​​The amount of sales in millions of shillings for 92 companies in the construction industry was recorded as shown below:

Sales (Sh.“million”)
Number of companies 
10 – 20
3
20 – 30 
7
30 – 40 
13
40 – 50 
X
50 – 60 
27
60 – 70 
Y
70 – 80 
8

Required: 

(i) Determine the value of X given that the median sales for the companies is Sh.51.4815 million. 

(ii) Determine the value of Y given that the modal sales for the companies is Sh.54 million. 


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Question 3a
​​Highlight FOUR characteristics of arithmetic mean.


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April 2025

2 Questions
Question 2b
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​A company collected data on monthly sales (in units) of a particular product over the past 100 months. The data was grouped into eight classes as shown below but two frequency values (​\(F_3\)​ and ​\(F_6\)​) are missing. The mean sale is given as 48.3 units.

  Sales range (units) 
Frequency
10 – 20
8
20 – 30
12
30 – 40 
\(F_3\)
40 – 50
20
50 – 60
18
60 – 70 
\(F_6\)
70 – 80
10
80 – 90
7
Total
100

Required: 

(i) Solve for ​\(F_3\)​ and ​\(F_6\)​ using the given mean. 

(ii) Compute the median sales. 

(iii) Determine the first quartile value (​\(Q_1\)​). 

(iv) Determine the third quartile value (​\(Q_3\)​). 

(v) Determine the quartile deviation. 

(vi) Determine the quartile coefficient of skewness. 


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Question 5a
​​Highlight SIX qualities of a good measure of central tendency.


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August 2024

2 Questions
Question 1a
​​State FOUR characteristics of the mean as a measure of central tendancy.


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Question 2b
​ ​ ​ ​ ​​The following frequency distribution table shows the amount of annual electricity bill obtained from a local utility company’s annual report:

Electricity bill Sh. “000” 
Frequency
0 – 249
3
250 – 499
10
500 – 749
8
750 – 999
3
1,000 – 1,249
4
1,250 – 1,499
1
1,500 – 1,749
0
1,750 – 1,999
1

Required: 

(i) Calculate the lower quartile and interpret your result. 

(ii) Determine the median value of the electricity bill. 

(iii) Compute the upper quartile value of the electricity bill. 

(iv) Determine the quartile coefficient of skewness and interpret your result.


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December 2023

2 Questions
Question 6b
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​The amount of money spent on purchases by the first 50 customers at a large department store is summarised in the following table:

Amount spent (Sh.“000”) 
Number of customers
0 – 5
3
5 – 10
6
10 - 15
7
15 - 20
11
20 - 25
15
25 - 30
8

Required: 

Compute: 

(i) The mean amount spent by the 50 customers. 

(ii) The standard deviation of the amount spent by the 50 customers. 

(iii) The coefficient of variation of the amount spent by the 50 customers.

(iv) The coefficient of Kurtosis and comment on your answer.


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Question 1a
​​Highlight FOUR disadvantages of the mode as a measure of central tendency


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August 2023

2 Questions
Question 1b
​ ​ ​ ​ ​​The following data relates to the ages of 100 students attending a workshop on personal branding organised by the student welfare officials of Pride Business College:

Age (in years)
Number of students
Below 20
2
20 – 25
4
25 – 30
10
30 – 35
20
35 – 40
32
40 – 45
18
45 – 50
10
Above 50
4

Thereafter, 15% of the youngest students and 5% of the oldest students attending the workshop were selected to attend a further training on curriculum vitae writing. Required: 

(i) Determine the youngest age of the students selected to attend the training on curriculum vitae writing. 

(ii) Determine the highest age of the students selected to attend the training on curriculum vitae writing. 

(iii) Calculate the median age of the students who remained after the selection of students to attend the training on curriculum vitae writing.


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Question 7a
​​With the aid of diagrams, describe the THREE types of Kurtosis.


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April 2023

2 Questions
Question 4a
​​Differentiate between the following terms:

(i) “Coefficient of skewness” and “coefficient of variation”.

(ii) “Arithmetic mean” and “harmonic mean”.


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Question 2b
​ ​ ​ ​​The time taken to complete a particular task was measured for 250 workers and the results were as shown below:

Time taken in minutes
Number of workers
0 – 5 
2
5 – 10
2
10 – 15
3
15 – 20
5
20 – 25
5
25 – 30
18
30 – 40
X
40 – 50
100
50 – 60
Y
Above 60
15

Required: 

(i) Determine the value of X given that the median time taken to complete the task is 40.5 minutes. 

(ii) Determine the value of Y given that the modal time taken to complete the task is 41.5 minutes. 


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December 2022

1 Questions
Question 4b
​ ​ ​ ​ ​​The following data relate to the number of computers sold each day over the last 240 working days by a leading computer firm.

Number of computers sold
Number of days
10 – 15
12
15 – 20
18
20 – 25
35
25 – 30
42
30 – 35
50
35 – 40
45
40 – 45
30
45 – 50
8

Required: 

(i) The modal number of computers sold.

(ii) The quartile deviation of the number of computers sold. 

(iii) The quartile coefficient of skewness of the number of computers sold. Interpret your results


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December 2021

1 Questions
Question 2b
​ ​ ​ ​ ​​The following data shows the distribution of profits of 150 manufacturing companies in a given year:

Profit ("Sh."million")
Number of companies
10-20
15
20-30
13
30-40
25
40-50
30
50-60
16
60-70
10
70-80
22
80-90
12
90-100
7

Required: 

(i) The arithmetic mean of the profits and interpret the results. 

(ii) The standard deviation of the profits and interpret the results. 

(iii) The coefficient of variation of the profits and interpret the results.


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May 2017

1 Questions
Question 3a
​ ​​Mwangaza Limited deals in the production of electric bulbs. A random sample of 10 electric bulbs produced by the company yielded the following results on the lifetime of the bulbs:

Lifetime (hours)
4,400
4,800
3,700
3,900
5,500
4,000
3,700
4,100
4,000
5,400

The hypothetical population mean of the lifetime of the electric bulbs is given as 4,000 hours. 

Required: 
Test at a 5 per cent level of significance, whether there is a significant difference between the sample mean and the population mean.


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November 2015

1 Questions
Question 1b
​​Apex Limited is planning to launch a new product in the market. It has undertaken a survey on the product's colour. brand name and packaging. The company sent questionnaires to 200 potential customers to obtain their views on the three attributes of the product. The results were as follows:

  • 24 persons liked the packaging and the brand name.
  • 77 persons liked the brand name or the colour but did not like the packaging.
  • 40 persons liked the colour only.
  • 120 persons liked the colour or the brand name.
  • 23 persons liked the colour and the packaging.
  • 43 persons liked at least two of the three attributes.
  • 5 persons did not like any of the three attributes.
  • The questionnaires of 25 persons were not received back.

The company's policy is to incorporate an attribute in the product if at least 50 per cent of the respondents liked the attribute.

Required:
(i) Present the above information in a venn diagram.

(ii) Number of persons that liked all the three attributes.

(iii) Proportion of persons that liked the colour.

(iv) Proportion of persons that liked the brand name.

(v) Proportion of persons that liked the packaging.

(vi) Attribute(s) to be incorporated in the product.


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