Which term means dividing the distribution into quarters?

Which term means dividing the distribution into quarters?

• A. Normal distribution
• B. Z-score
• C. Quartiles
• D. Adjustment factor

Answer: (C)

Dividing a distribution into four equal parts is described by quartiles. Quartiles split the data so that each part contains 25% of the observations: the first quartile is where 25% fall below, the median (second quartile) splits the data in half, and the third quartile is where 75% fall below. The interquartile range, the spread between the first and third quartiles, highlights the middle 50% of the data and is less affected by outliers. This is what you’d see reflected in a box plot, with the box spanning from the first to the third quartile. The other terms don’t describe this division: a normal distribution refers to a bell-shaped curve, a Z-score standardizes data relative to the mean and standard deviation, and an adjustment factor is a modifier used in calculations.

Dividing a distribution into four equal parts is described by quartiles. Quartiles split the data so that each part contains 25% of the observations: the first quartile is where 25% fall below, the median (second quartile) splits the data in half, and the third quartile is where 75% fall below. The interquartile range, the spread between the first and third quartiles, highlights the middle 50% of the data and is less affected by outliers. This is what you’d see reflected in a box plot, with the box spanning from the first to the third quartile. The other terms don’t describe this division: a normal distribution refers to a bell-shaped curve, a Z-score standardizes data relative to the mean and standard deviation, and an adjustment factor is a modifier used in calculations.