Bunuel wrote:
A particular characteristic or a feature in a large population has a distribution that is symmetric about the mean m. If 68 percent of the distribution lies within one standard deviation d of the mean, what percent of the distribution is less than (m + d)?
(A) 18%
(B) 32%
(C) 48%
(D) 84%
(E) 94%
Attachment:
normdist10.2.18.jpg [ 46.01 KiB | Viewed 548 times ]
A distribution that is symmetric about the mean with 68 percent of its data
within one standard deviation of the mean is a
normal distribution.\(\frac{68}{2} = 34\)% on each side of the mean
The mean plus one deviation (m + 1d) = (m + d) above the mean is (50% + 34%) = 84%
The percent of the distribution that is
below (m + d) is 84%
Or: 50% of the data lies below the mean.
Another 34% lies within one standard deviation above the mean.
50% + 34% = 84% of the distribution lies below the mean.
The percent of the distribution that is less than (m+d) = 84%
Answer D
Memorizing these three numbers will make life easy in normal distribution questions:
34%, 14%, 2%Standard deviation
= SD = dIn normal distribution questions, the mean is 50%
34%, 14%, and 2% correspond with 1SD, 2SD, and 3SD in the distribution
Above the mean, add the percents (to 50%). Below the mean, subtract the percents (from 50%).
Knowing the percents that correlate with the distribution helps, too: 0-2-16-50-84-98-100
In a normal distribution:
• 68 percent of data lies within 1 standard deviation of the mean
(i.e., within one deviation on EACH side of the mean)
34% below the mean, 34% above the mean
See the diagram.
ABOVE the mean: 50% +
34% = 84%
BELOW the mean: 50% -
34% = 16%
• 95 percent of data lies within 2 standard deviations of the mean (95%-68%) = 27%. It is standard to approximate.
Roughly half of 27% is 14%, so after the first deviation
ABOVE the mean: (84% +
14%) = 98%
BELOW the mean (16% -
14%) = 2%
• \(99.7 \approx 100\)% of data lies within 3 standard deviations of the mean (100 - 95) = 5%
Roughly half of 5% is 2.5%. I use 2%
ABOVE the mean (98% +
2%) = 100%
BELOW the mean (2% -
2%) = 0%
Note: some distributions use 2.5% (3 SDs from mean) and 13.5% (2 SDs from mean) instead of 2% and 14%
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