Mark R Marino wrote: > Why do you think that the algorithms in these computer packages differ? > Why aren't they universal? > Any thoughts or comments? > > Mark > > > Mark R Marino wrote: > > > Thanks. How come if I'm using Minitab, then I'd get 36.5 for this? > > > > Any thoughts? > > > > Mark > > > > "Nat Silver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> wrote in message > > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Mark R Marino wrote: > > > If I have the following Example Data Set: > > > 14, 29, 32, 38, 41, 45, 68, 71, 74, 83, 86, 87, 94, 99 > > > How would I find the first quartile of that data set? > > > What is the procedure? > > > > > > Find the median = 69.5 > > > Then find the median of the lower half, > > > which is 38, the first quartile. > > I agree with Nat that 38, the median of the lower half, is the first > quartile. I have heard about computer packages giving different answers > before. For example, Excel (the least trustworthy for statistics) says > 38.75! Got me how the packages come up with these.
This is a standard value (computed by Splus and R for e.g.). It results from taking the order statistics to correspond to proportions equally spaced from 0 to 100%. Other quantiles are obtained by linear interpolation between these. . . ================================================================= Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . =================================================================
