How do you calculate the percentile…

Mathematics Questions

How do you calculate the percentile for Oprah Winfrey’s Wechsler IQ z-score of 2.73 compared to others?

Short Answer

The Z-score is a statistic indicating how far a score is from the average, with Oprah Winfrey having a Z-score of 2.73, translating to an estimated IQ of about 140.95. Additionally, her Z-score corresponds to a percentile rank of approximately 99.68%, meaning she outranks 99.68% of the population in terms of IQ.

Step-by-Step Solution

Step 1: Understanding Z-scores

The Z-score is a statistical measure that tells us how far away an individual’s score is from the average. It represents the number of standard deviations a score is from the mean. For instance, Oprah Winfrey has a Z-score of 2.73, indicating her IQ is significantly above the average score.

Step 2: Calculating Oprah’s IQ

To find Oprah’s actual IQ score from her Z-score, we use the formula: IQ = Mean + (Z-score √ó Standard Deviation). In this case, the mean IQ score is set at 100, and the standard deviation for IQ is 15. Thus, Oprah’s IQ calculation would look like this:

  • IQ = 100 + (2.73 √ó 15)
  • This results in an IQ score of approximately 140.95.

Step 3: Determining Percentile Rank

The next step is converting the Z-score into a percentile rank. This informs us what percentage of the population has a lower score than Oprah. Using a standard Z-table, the Z-score of 2.73 gives a percentile rank of about 99.68%. This means Oprah’s IQ is higher than approximately 99.68% of the tested population, illustrating her exceptional intelligence.

Related Concepts

Z-score

A statistical measure that indicates how many standard deviations a score is from the mean.

Standard deviation

A measure that quantifies the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values, used to determine how spread out the scores are from the mean.

Percentile rank

A statistical measure indicating the percentage of scores in a distribution that a particular score is higher than, providing insight into how the score compares to the overall population.

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