Mean Absolute Deviation

Lesson 14.4 Assignment
Name_________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
Picking a Player
Calculating and Interpreting the Mean Absolute Deviation
1. The Greenfield Company makes air conditioner units to sell to home construction companies.
They get some of the parts for the air conditioner from another company. Unfortunately, this
company is going out of business, so they must find a new source for the parts that they use. They
narrow it down to two companies, Company A and Company B. They look at some samples for
the number of days it takes each company to fill orders. The data is as follows:
Company A: 8, 6, 5, 9, 12, 15, 6, 9, 12, 8
Company B: 8, 10, 9, 8, 9, 8, 9, 10, 11, 8
a. Calculate the mean number of days it takes each company to fill the orders.
b. Based on the mean number of days it takes for each company to fill orders from which
© Carnegie Learning
company should Greenfield choose to get their parts?
Chapter 14 Assignments • 237
462353_C3_Assign_CH14_225-242.indd 237
28/03/13 10:46 AM
Lesson 14.4 Assignment
page 2
c. The dot plots of the data for each company are shown. Based on the dot plots, which company
do you think has less variation in the number of days to fill an order?
5
6
8
9
Company A
8
9
10
11
Company B
12
15
d. Determine the absolute deviations for the number of days it takes to fill an order. Record your
answers in the table.
Calculation
of Deviation Deviation
Number
from the
from the Absolute
of Days
Mean
Mean
Deviation
Company B
Number
of Days
8
8
6
10
5
9
9
8
12
9
15
8
6
9
9
10
12
11
8
8
Calculation
of Deviation
from the
Mean
Deviation
from the Absolute
Mean
Deviation
© Carnegie Learning
Company A
238 • Chapter 14 Assignments
462353_C3_Assign_CH14_225-242.indd 238
28/03/13 10:46 AM
Lesson 14.4 Assignment
page 3
Name_________________________________________________________ Date__________________________
e. Calculate the mean absolute deviation for each company.
f.What does the mean absolute deviation tell you about the number of days to fill the order for
each company?
g.If you were in charge of the Greenfield company, which company would you choose? Explain
© Carnegie Learning
your reasoning.
Chapter 14 Assignments • 239
462353_C3_Assign_CH14_225-242.indd 239
28/03/13 10:46 AM
Lesson 14.4 Assignment
page 4
2. A company has decided to run some tests on the assembly times of their air conditioners. They are
concerned that the day shifts and evening shifts are not assembling the air conditioners with the
same rates and consistency. The sample data they collect is as follows:
Day Shift (assembly time in hours): 2.5, 3, 2.75, 3, 3.25
Evening Shift (assembly time in hours): 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5
a.Use a graphing calculator to calculate the mean and mean absolute deviation for each shift.
b. Based on your results from part (a), should the company be concerned that the day shift and
the night shift are not assembling the air conditioners with the same rates and consistency?
© Carnegie Learning
Explain your reasoning.
240 • Chapter 14 Assignments
462353_C3_Assign_CH14_225-242.indd 240
28/03/13 10:46 AM