Eco 72 Lab Assignment 1
Graphing and Summary Statistics

The purpose of this assignment will be to practice taking a mean, median, and mode for some real-world data (which will turn out to be incredibly easy).

The file http://myweb.liu.edu/~tbarr/eco72/eco72-lab1-data.xls contains data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth on wages, education, and dug behavior. For now, all we’ll be doing is generating a few statistics for the data and writing a histogram.

To begin with, scroll to down below the edge of the data to Row 104. In that row, enter the names of the variables just as they are in Row 1 (you could even copy and paste Row 1 to Row 104). Next, Row 105 will be the first row of our table. First, let’s report the minimum and maximum values that our data take. Give the row a name in Column A (such as “Minimum”); then, in Column B, type =MIN(B2:B101). That will report the smallest value within a range of cells. Do the same for columns C, D, E, and F.

Next, in Row 106, we’ll put the maximum. Put the label “Maximum” in Column A; then in column B, type =MAX(B2:B101). Repeat this for columns C through F.

Next, in Row 107, type Mean. The Excel function to report the mean is AVERAGE. So, in Column B, type =AVERAGE(B2:B101). Again, do the same for columns C through F.

Okay, you probably have the idea by now. We’ll also want to report the median (which is just the MEDIAN() function), and the mode, which likewise is MODE(). Do this in rows 108 and 109.

For this problem, hand in the table and the source code for the table. You can avoid printing out the data by selecting the table with the mouse, and choosing “Selection” in the box that says “Print what” under the Print menu.

What to Hand In

Please hand in both the results and the formulas.