How would you go about finding the interquartile range in an array of unsorted decimals?

Question Analysis

The question is asking about the process of calculating the interquartile range (IQR) from an array of unsorted decimal numbers. This is a technical question that requires knowledge of statistical measures and data sorting. The IQR is a measure of statistical dispersion, representing the range within which the middle 50% of data points lie. To find the IQR, you need to determine the first quartile (Q1) and the third quartile (Q3) and then calculate the difference between them.

Answer

To find the interquartile range in an array of unsorted decimals, follow these steps:

1. Sort the Data:

   • First, sort the array of decimals in ascending order. This is crucial because quartiles are based on the position of data points.

2. Determine Quartiles:

   • First Quartile (Q1): Find the median of the first half of the data. If the number of observations is odd, exclude the median of the dataset when calculating Q1.
   • Third Quartile (Q3): Find the median of the second half of the data. Similarly, if the number of observations is odd, exclude the overall median.

3. Calculate the Interquartile Range (IQR):

   • Subtract the first quartile (Q1) from the third quartile (Q3):
     [ \text{IQR} = Q3 - Q1 ]

By following these steps, you will have a clear and systematic approach to finding the interquartile range of an array of unsorted decimals.