Question

In a large population, 56 ________?

1) is the average age
2) is the median age
3) is the mode age
4) is the range of ages

Answer 1

In a large population, 56 is the median age. The correct answer to the question is: 2) is the median age

Step-by-step explanation:

The median age represents the middle value of a data set arranged in ascending or descending order. In this case, stating that 56 is the median age means that in a large population, 56 is the value separating the lower 50% from the upper 50% of the ages when they are arranged in order. Unlike the mean (average), the median is not affected by extreme values or outliers in the data set. It's the value at the center, dividing the data set into two equal halves.

The average age (option 1) refers to the arithmetic mean of all ages in the population. Mode (option 3) represents the most frequently occurring age, and range (option 4) refers to the difference between the highest and lowest ages in the population. However, none of these options inherently imply a specific value like 56 in a large population, whereas the median does precisely that.

By choosing 56 as the median age, it indicates that in the given large population, when ages are arranged in order, the 56th value in the sorted list is positioned exactly at the middle of the dataset, separating it into two halves. The correct answer to the question is: 2) is the median age