Question

Question
What is the best measure of center for the following dataset?

{0.06,1,1,2,3,4,4,5,6,7,8,9,9}

(1 point)
Responses

mode
mode

median
median

mean
mean

range

Answer 1

To determine the best measure of center for the dataset {0.06, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9}, it's useful to consider the characteristics of the data. The options provided are mode, median, mean, and range.

1. **Mode**: The mode is the number that appears most frequently. In this dataset, the modes are 1, 4, and 9, each appearing twice.

2. **Median**: The median is the middle value when the data is ordered. In this dataset, when arranged in order, there are 13 values. The middle value (7th value) is 4.

3. **Mean**: The mean is calculated by summing all values and dividing by the count of values.
- Sum = 0.06 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 9 = 60.06
- Mean = 60.06 / 13 ≈ 4.62

4. **Range**: The range is the difference between the maximum and minimum values. Here it would be 9 - 0.06 = 8.94, but this is not a measure of center.

Considering the nature of the data, it appears the dataset contains a few low outliers (0.06), which could skew the mean down and might not represent the center effectively. The median (4) is less affected by outliers and may better reflect the central tendency of the data.

Thus, the best measure of center for this dataset is **median**.