If all you are interested in is where you stand compared to the rest of the herd, you need

a statistic that reports relative standing, and that statistic is called a percentile. The kth
percentile is a value in a data set that splits the data into two pieces: The lower piece
contains k percent of the data, and the upper piece contains the rest of the data (which
amounts to [100 k] percent, because the total amount of data is 100%). Note: k is any
number between 0 and 100.
The median is the 50th percentile: the point in the data where 50% of the data fall below
that point, and 50% fall above it.
To calculate the kth percentile (where k is any number between zero and one hundred),
do the following steps:
1

Order all the values in the data set from smallest to largest.

Multiply k percent by the total number of values, n.This number is called the index.

If the index obtained in Step 2 is not a whole number, round it up to the nearest
whole number and go to Step 4a. If the index obtained in Step 2 is a whole
number, go to Step 4b.
4a.Count the values in your data set from left to right (from the smallest to
the largest value) until you reach the number indicated by Step 3.The
corresponding value in your data set is the kth percentile.
4b.Count the values in your data set from left to right until you reach the
number indicated by Step 2.The kth percentile is the average of that
corresponding value in your data set and the value that directly follows it.
For example, suppose you have 25 test scores, and in order from lowest to highest they
look like this: 43, 54, 56, 61, 62, 66, 68, 69, 69, 70, 71, 72, 77, 78, 79, 85, 87, 88, 89, 93,
95, 96, 98, 99, 99. To find the 90th percentile for these (ordered) scores, start by
multiplying 90% times the total number of scores, which gives 90% 25 = 0.90 25 =
22.5 (the index). Rounding up to the nearest whole number, you get 23.
Counting from left to right (from the smallest to the largest value in the data set), you go
until you find the 23rd value in the data set. That value is 98, and its the 90th percentile
for this data set.
Now say you want to find the 20th percentile. Start by taking 0.20 x 25 = 5 (the index);
this is a whole number, so proceed from Step 3 to Step 4b, which tells you the 20th
percentile is the average of the 5th and 6th values in the ordered data set (62 and 66).

The 20th percentile then comes to (62 + 66) 2 = 64.

The median (the 50th percentile) for the test scores is the 13th score: 77.
The steps shown here demonstrate one way of calculating percentiles, but there are
several other acceptable methods. Do not be too alarmed if your calculator or a friend
gives you a value close to but different from what these steps would give.
An 8 year old boy who is 45 (53 inches) tall is in the 86th percentile for height for his
age.
What on earth does that mean? Well, the percentile of an individual tells you what
percent of the population has a value of a variable is below that individuals value of the
variable. For example, to say that a 45 8 year-old boy is in the 86th percentile for
height for his age, we are saying: gather together all 8 year-old boys on Earth, and
measure their heights; if you sort out all the 8 year-old boys who have a height less than
45, they will comprise approximately 86% of the population.

That boy is taller than

86% of other boys his age that means hes in the 86% percentile.
1) Sasha took a nationwide standardized test that is graded on a scale from 20 to 60.
Sasha got one of the best scores recorded on that this test.
Column A
Sashas score

Column B
the percentile of Sashas score

2) Alice took nationwide standardize test that is graded on a scale from 0 to 100. Alice
scored the highest score recorded on this test.
Column A
Alices score

Column B
the percentile of Alices score

3) A large distribution of score is normally distributed

Column A
score thats one standard deviation above the mean
Column B
score that has the 80th percentile
1) We know that Sasha is near the top of the scoring distribution, so that would mean a

score with a percentile close to the 99th percentile. Because of the scoring scale, the
score is not going to be above 60, so the percentile is clearly bigger. Answer = B.
2) Alice got the highest score, so by definition, thats the 99th percentile. What we dont
know is: how hard was this test? What score was the highest score? If it was a
particularly challenging test, it could be that the highest score anyone achieved was only,
say, a 73. In that case, the percentile would be greater. If, on the other hand, it was
possible to get a perfect score, and Alice did in fact do that, then her score of a 100
would be greater than the percentile. We dont have enough information to decide.
Answer = D.
3) Here, it might be helpful to brush up on Normal Distribution. On a normal distribution,
its always true that 68% of the populations lies within one standard deviation of the
mean. That means, half of that, 34%, lie between the mean and one standard deviation
above the mean. The score that is one standard deviation is higher than the 34%
between the mean and one standard deviation above the mean, as well as than the 50%
below the mean. That means, a score that lies one standard deviation above the mean
is the 50 + 34 = 84th percentile. Thus, its higher than a score in the 80th percentile.
Answer = A.
There are 10,000 numbers, ranging from 20 to 80. If 62 is 60th percentile, then
Col A: What percentile is 74
Col B: 70th percentile
Ans: as nothing can be determined from the data given. As the number are between 20
to 80. 80 is 99.99th percentile, so 74 would lie between 60th and 99.99th percentile. But
could not be determined.
The variable x is normally distributed. the values of x at the 45th, the 15th and the kth
percentiles of the distribution are 550, 350 and 450 respectively.
Col A: x
Col B: 30
If 350, 450 and 550 correspond to the 15, k, 45 percentile, compare k and 30''.
The normal distribution is symmetric and has the property that the ''mass'' of the
distribution increases as we approach towards the mean. Thus, the number of
observations that are located from 350...450 must be smaller than the number of
observations that are located from 450...550. Thus k<30.