Question

Over the first five years of owning her car, Gina drove about 12,700 miles the first year, 15,478 miles the second year, 12,675 the third year, 11,850 the fourth year, and 13,075 the fifth year. a. Find the mean, median, and mode of this data. b. Explain which measure of central tendency will best predict how many miles Gina will drive in the sixth year.

Answer 1

Part a)

Mean: 13155.6

Mode:None

Median: 12700

Explanation:

12700 : 1

15478: 2

12675: 3

11850: 4

13075: 5

Mean :

`=(Sum of all values)/(Total no. of values) \\=(12700 + 15478 + 12675 + 11850 + 13075)/(5)\\=(65778)/(5)\\= 13155.6`

Mode:

All values are distinct, therefore there is no mode. A mode is value which occurs most frequently.

Median:

Arrange the values in ascending order:

11850 , 12675, 12700, 12075, 15478

The mid value is median: 12700

Part b)

It depends upon the data. In this question the best way to predict how many miles Gina will drive in the next years is by using Median of the data.

The reason is that there is a potential outlier in the data i.e 15478. In case of outlier median tends to give better predictions.