Question:medium

The mean and standard deviation of a group of 100 observations were found to be 20 and 3, respectively. Later on it was found that three observations were incorrect, which were recorded as 21, 21 and 18. Find the mean and standard deviation if the incorrect observations are omitted.

Updated On: Jan 21, 2026
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Solution and Explanation

It is given that the mean and standard deviation of a group of 100 observations are

\[ \bar{x} = 20, \quad \sigma = 3. \]


Step 1: Find the sum of the 100 observations

We know that

\[ \bar{x} = \frac{\sum x}{n}. \]

Hence,

\[ \sum x = n \bar{x} = 100 \times 20 = 2000. \]


Step 2: Find the sum of squares of the observations

We use the formula

\[ \sigma^2 = \frac{\sum x^2}{n} - \bar{x}^2. \]

Substituting the given values:

\[ 3^2 = \frac{\sum x^2}{100} - 20^2. \]

\[ 9 = \frac{\sum x^2}{100} - 400. \]

\[ \frac{\sum x^2}{100} = 409. \]

\[ \sum x^2 = 409 \times 100 = 40900. \]


Step 3: Subtract the incorrect observations

The incorrect observations are \[ 21,\; 21,\; 18. \]

Their sum is

\[ 21 + 21 + 18 = 60. \]

Their sum of squares is

\[ 21^2 + 21^2 + 18^2 = 441 + 441 + 324 = 1206. \]


Step 4: Find the corrected sum and sum of squares

Corrected number of observations:

\[ n' = 100 - 3 = 97. \]

Corrected sum:

\[ \sum x' = 2000 - 60 = 1940. \]

Corrected sum of squares:

\[ \sum x'^2 = 40900 - 1206 = 39694. \]


Step 5: Find the corrected mean

\[ \bar{x}' = \frac{1940}{97} = 20. \]


Step 6: Find the corrected standard deviation

Using the formula

\[ \sigma'^2 = \frac{\sum x'^2}{n'} - (\bar{x}')^2. \]

\[ \sigma'^2 = \frac{39694}{97} - 20^2. \]

\[ \sigma'^2 = 409.216 - 400. \]

\[ \sigma'^2 = 9.216. \]

\[ \sigma' = \sqrt{9.216} \approx 3.04. \]


Final Answer:

\[ \boxed{ \text{Corrected Mean} = 20, \quad \text{Corrected Standard Deviation} \approx 3.04 } \]

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