Question

OSTATISTICS

Choosing the best measure to describe data
Answer the questions below.
(a) The 10 members of the swim team completed the following numbers of laps at today's practice:
76, 77, 78, 79, 82, 83, 86, 87, 89, 91.
Which measure should be used to summarize the data?
Mean
O Median
O Mode
(b) Lucy has recorded the number of miles she has driven for each of the last 9 weeks:
126, 380, 383, 385, 386, 396, 398, 404, 419.
Which measure should be used to summarize the data?
Mean
Median
O Mode
(c) A reporter has recorded the rating (G, PG, PG-13, or R) of each movie played in a theater over the
past year.
Which measure gives the most common rating?
O Mean
Median
O Mode
S

Answer 1

a) Mean

b) Median

c) Mode

Explanation:

a) The data set has no outliers, therefore taking the average (mean) would be the best.

b) The data has outliers which would skew a mean. None of the numbers repeat, therefore mode would not work, so by process of elimination, one can find that Median is the best.

c) This data set does not have numbers, therefore mean does not make sense. The most common rating would be the rating that occurs most often, which would be mode.