Question

this table shows the number of free throws made by the basketball team in each game
Game Free throws Made
1 4
2 14
3 5
4 7
5 19
6 15
7 6
What value, the mean or median, best describes the shape of the data set that contains the number of free throws made by the basketball team? choose 1 for mean and 2 for median

Answer 1

To determine whether the mean or median best describes the shape of the data set, we can calculate both the mean and median of the free throws made.

The free throws made in each game are:
4, 14, 5, 7, 19, 15, 6

**Step 1: Calculate the mean.**
Mean = (Sum of all values) / (Number of values)
Mean = (4 + 14 + 5 + 7 + 19 + 15 + 6) / 7
Mean = 70 / 7 = 10

**Step 2: Calculate the median.**
To find the median, we first need to sort the data:
4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 19

The median is the middle value in the sorted list. Since there are 7 values (an odd number), the median is the 4th value:
Median = 7

**Step 3: Analyze the results.**
- Mean = 10
- Median = 7

In this case, the mean (10) is higher than the median (7) due to the presence of an outlier (the 19). The data set is skewed to the right (positively skewed). In such cases, the median is often a better measure of central tendency because it is less affected by outliers.

Therefore, the median (2) better describes the shape of the data set.

The answer is **2** for median.