Question

8. How do outliers affect the mean of a data set?

OIt does not change.
It depends whether the outlier is a high outlier or a low outlier.
It decreases.
It increases.

Answer 1

it depends on whether the outlier is a high outlier or a low outlier

Explanation:

The mean of a data set is the average of the data set. So if I had the data set {5, 2, 10} the average would be (5+2+10)/3 = 5.667. Now if I added an outlier like 10,000 it would increase the mean significantly. It changes it significantly but I cannot say whether it increases or decreases it without knowing the value of the outlier, since if I had the outlier -10,000 that would decrease the mean, but I had the outlier 10,000 it would increase it. So it depends on whether the outlier is a high outlier or a low outlier