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How will a large value outlier in a data set affect the mean and median?

1) The mean will increase and the median will increase
2) The mean will increase and the median will decrease
3) The mean will decrease and the median will increase
4) The mean will decrease and the median will decrease

1 Answer

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Final answer:

When there is a large value outlier in a data set, it will lead to an increase in the mean and may or may not affect the median.

Step-by-step explanation:

When there is a large value outlier in a data set, it will lead to an increase in the mean and may also affect the median. The mean is calculated by taking the sum of all the values in the data set and dividing it by the total number of values. An outlier, especially a large one, has a significant impact on the sum, thus increasing the mean. However, the median, which is the middle value when the data set is arranged in ascending or descending order, may or may not be affected by the outlier. If the outlier is not near the middle of the data set, the median will be relatively unaffected.

For example, let's consider a data set of {2, 4, 6, 8, 100}. The mean of this data set is (2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 100) / 5 = 24. The median is 6, which is not affected by the large outlier of 100 because it is not near the middle of the data set.

Therefore, the correct answer to the question is 2) The mean will increase and the median may or may not be affected.

User Boncho Valkov
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