To compute quartiles you must first

To compute quartiles you must first

• A. Compute mean
• B. Sort data ascending
• C. Compute sum
• D. Remove outliers

Answer: (B)

To split data into four equal parts, you have to know the order of the numbers. Sorting the data from smallest to largest is the essential first step because quartiles are defined by the positions of values in this ordered list. Once you have the data in increasing order, you can find the median to get the second and third quartiles, and then the medians of the lower and upper halves give the first and third quartiles. Computing the mean or the sum isn’t involved in locating quartiles, and removing outliers isn’t part of the standard quartile calculation (though outliers can affect the values in some boxplot contexts).

To split data into four equal parts, you have to know the order of the numbers. Sorting the data from smallest to largest is the essential first step because quartiles are defined by the positions of values in this ordered list. Once you have the data in increasing order, you can find the median to get the second and third quartiles, and then the medians of the lower and upper halves give the first and third quartiles.

Computing the mean or the sum isn’t involved in locating quartiles, and removing outliers isn’t part of the standard quartile calculation (though outliers can affect the values in some boxplot contexts).