In what type of data would you use the mean as a balance point to describe the data? Select the correct option below. Option #1: bell-shaped symmetrical data Option #2: right-leaning data Option #3: left-leaning data Option #4: U-shaped data

1 answer

The correct option is: Option #1: bell-shaped symmetrical data.

In bell-shaped symmetrical distributions (often resembling a normal distribution), the mean serves as an effective balance point that accurately represents the central tendency of the data. In contrast, for skewed data (right-leaning and left-leaning), the mean can be influenced by outliers and may not represent the data well. U-shaped data also does not lend itself well to the use of the mean as a balance point.