0 has 4. 1 has 5. 2 has 3. 3 has 4. 4 has 2. 5 has 0. 6 has 1. 7 has 2. 8 has 0. 9 has 0. 10 has 1.

Question

You are trying to find the average number of siblings that your classmates have.
In 3 short, simple sentences, explain whether the distribution of the data you gathered is symmetrical or skewed and if the mean or median would be the most appropriate center.
Also calculate and state the mean and median in your response.
Finally, state the best measure of center for the number of siblings.

Answer 1

The distribution of the data on the number of siblings is skewed to the right, as there are more students with fewer siblings and a long tail extending towards those with more siblings. Therefore, the median is a better measure of center than the mean, which can be influenced by the few students with a higher number of siblings.

To calculate:

• Mean: (0 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 1) / 11 = 1.27 (approximately)
• Median: When the data is ordered (0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5), the median is 1.

Thus, the best measure of center for the number of siblings is the median, which is 1.