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Copyright © 2007 by Paul Niquette. All rights reserved. |
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people like to characterize statistics using one of the three m-words...
The Revenge of the DAR puzzle
describes an unusual case wherein the mean is twice the median
(while making the mode moot, since all the test scores are different
from one another, each appearing only once).
We might reasonably suppose that the blue-book grades are percentages. Better still, let's make that an explicit assumption and, while we're at it, that scores are all integers. Now, if the number of students is odd, the median will be one of the scores and therefore an integer. If the number of students is even, it is customary to average the two middle-most numbers to calculate the median. That might result in a non-integer median. We shall put this possibility to the side for the moment.
The lowest possible grade, of course, is zero, and only one student can have it. Whatever the lowest grade in the class, though, the rest of the grades must be integral amounts higher, making each score unique. The smallest separation, of course, is one. If the number of students is even, a median formed by averaging the two middle-most numbers will not be an integer. So we conclude that the number of students is odd. Computed as exactly twice the median, the mean is likewise an integer. Let n = the number of students, and s[i]
be the score of the i-th student.
mean = {s[1] + s[2] + ... + s[n]} / nWe proceed deterministically and ascertain that the total number of students who took the test cannot be more than 13. If n = 13, the lowest score must have been zero, and the others are separated by one. The test scores are as follows: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 90% The instructor must have been disappointed with those
students. Except for one.
The table above shows the range of possible scores for n < 13. For n > 13, the conditions of the Revenge of the DAR puzzle cannot be met. If n = 15, say, the DAR would have to be given bonus points to reach 119%. |
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Revenge of the DAR derives its title from an acronym. You are invited to figure out its definition from this table of 55 acronyms courtesy of The Free Dictionary by Farlex...
As for the 'revenge' part, suppose that a passing grade
requires a score of at least half the class average. How many of
the 13 students flunk the exam as a consequence of the DAR's aggressive
study habits?
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