Are you tired of getting confused between percentage and percentile? Do you find yourself struggling to understand the difference between these two terms?
The percentage is a measure of the proportion of a total value expressed as a fraction of 100, while the percentile is a measure of the position of a particular value within a distribution relative to the rest of the values.
Percentage vs. Percentile
| Percentage | Percentile |
|---|---|
| Percentage is a measure of the proportion of a total value expressed as a fraction of 100. | Percentile is a measure of the position of a particular value within a distribution relative to the rest of the values. |
| It is calculated by dividing a part by the whole and multiplying by 100. | It is calculated by determining the value below which a given percentage of data falls. |
| The range for percentage is always from 0 to 100. | The range for percentile is from 0 to 100 or from the smallest value to the largest value in the data set. |
| It is used to express a part of a whole or to compare parts of different wholes. | It is used to rank and compare individual values within a distribution. |
| An example of percentage is “20% of the students in the class are female.” | An example of percentile is “The 90th percentile score on the SAT is 1400.” |
| It is used for aggregated or summary data. | It is used for individual-level data. |
| Percentage measures proportions or rates. | Percentile measures position within a distribution. |
Introduction to percentages and percentiles
A percentage is a fractional value of 100, while a percentile is the value below which a given percentage of observations in a group of observations fall. In other words, percentiles divide a distribution into 100 equal parts. The nth percentile is the value below which n% of the observations can be found.
If you want to know what 25% of people scored on a test, you would be looking for the 25th percentile. However, if you want to know what score was needed to get a C, or what 75% of people scored on the test, you would be looking for the 75th percentile.
Examples of percentage and percentiles
A company reports that its sales increased by 5% last year. This means that for every 100 dollars of sales they had last year, they made 5 more dollars this year.
If you score in the 80th percentile on a test, it means that you scored higher than 80% of the people who took the test.
To calculate your grade as a percentage, you take the total number of points you earned and divide it by the total number of points possible. For example, if you earned 90 out of 100 points, your grade would be 90%.
To calculate a percentile rank, you take the total number of people who took the test and divide it by 100. Then, you find the person with the score that is closest to yours and count how many people scored below them.
So, if there are 200 people who took the test and your score is better than 190 of them, your percentile rank would be 95%.
Calculating percentages and percentiles
A percentage is a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100. It’s calculated by taking the number of items in a group, dividing it by the total number of items, and then multiplying by 100.
For example, if 30 out of 100 students in a class got an A on their report card, the percentage of students who got an A would be 30%.
A percentile is a way of expressing a number as the percentage of values that are equal to or below it. To calculate a percentile, you first need to order all the values from smallest to largest.
Then, you take the number of values that are equal to or below the value you’re interested in, divide it by the total number of values, and multiply by 100. So, if 30 out of 100 students in a class got an A on their report card, the percentile for an A would be 30%.
Key differences between percentage and percentile
- Definition: Percentage is a measure of the proportion of a total value expressed as a fraction of 100, while percentile is a measure of the position of a particular value within a distribution relative to the rest of the values.
- Calculation: Percentage is calculated by dividing a part by the whole and multiplying by 100, while percentile is calculated by determining the value below which a given percentage of data falls.
- Use: Percentage is used to express a part of a whole or to compare parts of different wholes, while percentile is used to rank and compare individual values within a distribution.
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Conclusion
Knowing the difference can help you analyze data more effectively, draw better conclusions and make informed decisions. Percentage is a measure of part-to-whole relations while percentile is a measure of rank ordering within a group. Understanding these two terms will also be beneficial when trying to compare measurements across different groups or time periods as they provide an accurate representation of the distribution of values in each case.
