Of the mean, median, and mode, which measure of center is most affected by outliers? Explain your reasoning including an example with at least 10 data points. make it super short and as a 5th grader would

Answer 1

The measure of center that is most affected by outliers is the mean.

The mean is the average of all numbers, so if you have a very big or very small number (an outlier), it can change the mean a lot.

Example: Let’s say we have these 10 numbers:
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 100.

1. Mean: (3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 100) / 10 = 16.3
2. Median: (the middle number is 7.5 because it’s the average of 7 and 8)
3. Mode: (no number repeats, so there’s no mode)

The mean is much higher (16.3) because of that big number 100, but the median (7.5) isn’t affected much. That’s why the mean changes the most with outliers!