Using the TI-84 for Statistics

The calculator can be used to enter data from experiments. This data can then be manipulated to
produce statistics such as mean and standard deviation (topic 4) as well as chi-square (AHL) and
student t-tests (Option G). All of these statistical topics are included in the syllabus as indicated by the
brackets. Students could also download the data into programmes such as excel through a piece of
hardware called the graph-link or TiConnect.
Basic Statistics: Mean & Standard Deviation (Topic 1)
Data is stored in lists. If data is in the lists from previous experiments the lists will need to be cleared.
If no data is present, you are ready to begin the problem at part a.
Press the STAT button. Either press 4;OR use the cursor e!s to move down to "lr#ist and press enter
You will now need to specifiy which list you want to clear.
Use the blue or yellow 2nd button to choose your list.
Press 2nd and then press 1. Press ENTER.
You will now have cleared list 1 and you are free to enter the data.
a) Press the STAT button again. The Edit function is highlighted by default. Press
ENTER. Now enter the following data by pressing enter after each number.
9 enter 7 enter 6 enter 10, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 6, 9, 8, 7, 8, 5
b) Press the STAT button again. Use the blue cursor arrows so that CALC is highlighted.
Press ENTER to calculate a number of single variable statistics. You must specify
which list you want to do the calculation for, so press 2nd then press the 1 to indicate
that you want the statistics for L
1
and then press ENTER. You should see that the mean
is given as 7.1, the standard deviation is 1.7, the number of statistics is 15 etc.
Students t-test (Topic 1)
Example from Allott Biology for the IB Diploma: To test whether there was any difference in the size
of lichens growing on the top and side of a stone wall, some data were collected. The diameters of a
random sample of ten lichens on the top and ten on the side were measured and a t-test was used to
find out if there was a significant difference.
Surface Diameter of lichen (mm)
Top 22 10 24 45 9 26 5 34 10 13
Side 22 12 23 13 7 13 5 24 3 10
a. Clear your L
1
as specified in the instructions above.
b. Clear your L
2
using the same procedure.
c. Enter the Top data into L
1
and the Side data into L
2
.
d. Push the STAT button
e. Move the cursor to the TESTS menu.
f. Press 4; the default should be Data (it will be flashing), Pooled should be highlighted as Yes
g. Move the cursor down to the last row off the screen until you see the flashing Calculate.
h. Press ENTER. Despite the means being 19.8 and 13.2 respectively, a t value of 1.41 with a (p)
value of 17.7% shows that the difference in means is not statistically significant.
Using Data in Lists as Spreadsheets
1. You can do calculations with data that is held in lists.
a. Clear list 1
b. Enter the following data into list 1: 2, 4, 6, 8
c. Scroll across and then up so that the L
2
is covered.
d. Notice that at the bottom of the screen, the line says L
2
=
e. Enter 2 x L
1
(type the blue button and 1)
f. Notice that the L
2
values are twice the L
1
values.
2. You would like to carry out a X
2
test to determine whether the difference between the observed
ratio of corn kernels (390 : 410 : 420 : 380) is significantly different from the expected ratio of
(400 : 400 : 400 : 400).
a.
Clear L
1
and L
2
.
b.
Enter the observed data in L
1
.
c.
Enter the expected data in L
2
d.
Move the cursor across to the L
3
column and up so that the term L
3
is highlighted.
e.
Notice at the bottom of the screen, you can see L
3
=
f.
Remembering to use the blue button, Type (L
2
L
1
). Push the x
2
button. The bottom line should
read (L
2
L
1
)
2
. Now type L
2
.
g.
The line should now read (L
2
L
1
)
2
/L
2
. Press enter.
h.
To find the sum, press STAT, move the cursor over to CALC, press enter for 1-Var Stats,
specify L
3
(press blue 2
nd
button and press 3), the sum is x= 2.5. where x= critical value
i.
Using a chi-square table, with three degrees of freedom, p>0.05 that the difference is due to
chance. (http://www.ento.vt.edu/~sharov/PopEcol/tables/chisq.html)
Using the Programme TiConnect on the Computer
A programme called TiConnect comes on a CD with your calculator or it can be downloaded from the
web site of Texas Instruments.
a. Connect your calculator through the USB connector.
b. Turn your calculator on.
c. Open TiConnect on the computer desktop.
d. Click on TiDeviceExplorer
e. Double click on screen image. You could use the generated image in a document or to project
what is on your calculator.
f. Close this screen and click on List. We are going to import data from the calculator to your
computer.
g. Select L
3
and double click on this list. The data will be transferred to the computer.
h. The data can be copied and pasted into Excel.
i. Data can be imported from Excel into your calculator as long as it has been saved in comma
separated format (.csv). When saving, choose .csv from the Files of type menu at the bottom
of the screen.
j. Open TiConnect. Click on TiDataEditor.
k. Under the file menu, choose Import.
l. From the resources folder, open Bean Data
m. The file will need to be re-named L1 so that it can be saved into the L1 column.
m. Click on the box.
n. Click on the send file box (yellow arrow beside the calculator)