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If the shape of our data set is multimodal, we expect:

(A) the mean to be less than the median.
(B) the mean to be larger than the median.
(C) the mean and the median to be approximately the same.
(D) none of the these.

User Westranger
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5.1k points

2 Answers

0 votes

Final answer:

In a multimodal distribution, the relationship between the mean and the median cannot be determined without more information on the distribution's skewness and the relative size of the peaks. Thus, the answer is that none of the provided options are necessarily correct.

Step-by-step explanation:

When dealing with a multimodal distribution, which is a distribution with more than one peak or "mode," the relationship between the mean, the median, and the mode is not as predictable as it is in symmetric distributions. Since multimodal distributions can have multiple peaks at different points, it can alter the typical order of the mean, median, and mode based on where these peaks occur relative to each other.

The presence of multiple modes can pull the mean toward the larger values if one peak represents higher values significantly, or it can pull the mean towards lesser values if a peak represents lower values significantly. However, without additional specific information about the skewness or the relative size of these peaks, we cannot definitively say whether the mean will be less than, equal to, or greater than the median. Therefore, the correct answer is:

(D) none of these.

User Michael Beeson
by
5.2k points
7 votes

Answer: (D) none of the these.

Step-by-step explanation:

  • A multimodal distribution refers to a distribution with two or more modes.

If the shape of our data set is multimodal, the it will show two or more peaks which represents the number modes in the data.

Since it has no relation with mean or median of the data, there for the correct option will be "none of these".

User Supergra
by
5.4k points
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