20, 40, 30, 36, 36, 40, 39, 36, 38
The mean is 35 hours per week and the median is 36 hours per week.
Question
Which statement best explains why the mean is less than the median?
Answer options with 4 options
A.
There are only 9 employees.
B.
Nobody works more than 40 hours.
C.
The smallest number is half the largest.
D.
One worker works much fewer hours than everyone else.
1 answer
The best explanation for why the mean (35 hours) is less than the median (36 hours) is:
D. One worker works much fewer hours than everyone else.
In this case, the presence of a particularly low number (20 hours) pulls down the mean more than it affects the median, which is more resistant to such outliers.
