Question

Mean Absolute Deviation
This graph component shows a dot plot from a previous problem.The number line is labeled "Number of Baskets Polina Made" and ranges from 0 to 10 in increments of one.Data points are plotted as follows:3: two dots.4: two dots.7: one dot.8: one dot.The mean is marked with a line at 5.Horizontal line segments are drawn from the mean to each data point.These line segments move together to form one longer line segment.The dividers marking the end of each original segment within the longer segment are rearranged so that the longer segment is divided into six equal parts, all labeled 2.The MAD is 2.
One way to measure consistency is to calculate the average of the absolute deviations.



This is known as the mean absolute deviation (MAD).

a. Press "Play" to see how to calculate the mean absolute deviation.



b. Explain how to calculate the mean absolute deviation in your own words.

Answer 1

Mean absolute deviation (MAD) tells you, on average, how far the data values are from the mean. To calculate it:

1. Find the mean (average) of the data: add all the values and divide by how many there are.
2. For each data point, find its deviation from the mean and take the absolute value (so every distance is positive).
3. Add up all those absolute deviations.
4. Divide that total by the number of data points.

In words: find the mean, measure how far each point is from the mean (ignoring direction), add those distances, and take the average of those distances. The result is the MAD.