Question

The number of bagels sold daily for two bakeries is shown in the table:

Bakery A Bakery B
15 15
52 16
51 34
33 35
57 12
12 9
45 36
46 17

Based on these data, is it better to describe the centers of distribution in terms of the mean or the median? Explain.

A.) Mean for both bakeries because the data is symmetric

B.) Mean for Bakery B because the data is symmetric; median for bakery A because the data is not symmetric

C.) Mean for Bakery A because the data is symmetric; median for Bakery B because the data is not symmetric

D.) Median for both bakeries because the data is not symmetric

Answer 1

The answer above is correct.

Explanation:

D.) Median for both bakeries because the data is not symmetric

got it right in the test

Answer 2

D.) Median for both bakeries because the data is not symmetric

Explanation:

You can compare box-and-whisker plots for the two bakeries .

Neither bakery has a normal distribution.

The median for Bakery A is not in the middle of the box.

Rather, it cuts the box into two unequal parts, so the data does not have a normal distribution.

The longer part is below the median, so the data are skewed to the bottom.

Similarly, the data for Bakery B are skewed to the top.

The values in the tails pull the mean down for Bakery A and up for Bakery B, so it is better to describe the centres of distribution in terms of the medians.