Final answer:
The mean, median, and mode are measures of central tendency in statistics. The mean is calculated by finding the average, while the median is the middle value, and the mode is the most frequently occurring value. These measures can help analyze the center of the data set and provide insight into the shape of the data.
Step-by-step explanation:
The measures of central tendency in statistics provide an overall summary of a data set. The three commonly used measures are the mean, median, and mode. The mean is the average of all the data points. The median is the middle value when the data is arranged in ascending or descending order. The mode is the value that appears most frequently in the data set. The mean is the best estimate for the actual data set, while the median is preferred when there are outliers or extreme values present. The mode represents the most frequently occurring value in the data set. It is important to note that the mean is affected by outliers, so it may not accurately represent the center of the data set in those cases. By analyzing the measures of central tendency, we can determine the shape and characteristics of the data. For example, symmetrical data sets will have the mean and median close to each other, while skewed data sets will have a larger difference between the mean and median.