Question

Explain how to find the mean

Answer 1

To find the mean (often referred to as the average) of a set of numbers, follow these steps:

1. **Sum the Values**: Add all the numbers together to get a total. For example, if your data set is 4, 8, 6, and 10, you would calculate:
\[
4 + 8 + 6 + 10 = 28
\]

2. **Count the Values**: Determine how many numbers are in your data set. In the example above, there are 4 numbers.

3. **Divide the Total by the Count**: Divide the sum from step 1 by the count from step 2 to find the mean:
\[
\text{Mean} = \frac{\text{Total Sum}}{\text{Count}} = \frac{28}{4} = 7
\]

So, the mean of the numbers 4, 8, 6, and 10 is 7.

### Example:
If you have the numbers 3, 5, 7, and 2:

1. Calculate the sum: \( 3 + 5 + 7 + 2 = 17 \)
2. Count the numbers: 4
3. Divide the total by the count: \( \frac{17}{4} = 4.25 \)

Thus, the mean is 4.25.

### Important Notes:
- The mean can be affected by extremely high or low values (outliers) in the data set, which might not represent the central tendency effectively.
- In some cases, you might also encounter weighted means, where different numbers contribute differently to the final average.