Question

The line plot displays the number of roses purchased per day at a grocery store.

A horizontal line starting at 0 with tick marks every one unit up to 10. The line is labeled Number of Rose Bouquets, and the graph is titled Roses Purchased Per Day. There is one dot above 10. There are two dots above 1 and 4. There are three dots above 2 and 5. There are 4 dots above 3.

Which of the following is the best measure of center for the data, and what is its value?

The median is the best measure of center, and it equals 3.5.
The median is the best measure of center, and it equals 3.
The mean is the best measure of center, and it equals 3.
The mean is the best measure of center, and it equals 3.5

Answer 1

The best measure of center for this data would be the median, as it is less affected by outliers and works well for skewed data. To find the median, we arrange the data in order: 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5. There are 16 data points, so the median would be the average of the 8th and 9th values, which is 3.5. Therefore, the best measure of center for this data is the median, and its value is 3.5.

So the correct answer is: The median is the best measure of center, and it equals 3.5.