Lesson 12: Using Mean and MAD to Make Comparisons | Unit 8: Data Sets and Distributions

Multiple Choice

The dot plots show the amounts of time that ten U.S. students and ten Australian students take to get to school. Which statement is true about the MAD of the Australian data set?

• It is significantly less than the MAD of the U.S. data set.

• It is exactly equal to the MAD of the U.S. data set.

• It is approximately equal to the MAD of the U.S. data set.

• It is significantly greater than the MAD of the U.S. data set.

Open Ended

The dot plots show the amounts of time that ten South African students and ten Australian students took to get to school. Without calculating, answer the question:

1. Which data set has the smaller mean? Explain your reasoning.

Open Ended

The dot plots show the amounts of time that ten South African students and ten Australian students took to get to school. Without calculating, answer the question:

1. Which data set has the smaller MAD? Explain your reasoning.

Multiple Choice

What does a smaller mean tell us in this context?

• The travel times are generally longer.
• The travel times are generally shorter.
• The travel times are inconsistent.
• The travel times are mostly over 30 minutes.

Multiple Choice

What does a smaller MAD tell us in this context?

• A smaller MAD indicates more variability in the data.
• A smaller MAD suggests a larger sample size.
• A smaller MAD means the data is skewed.
• A smaller MAD indicates less variability in the data.

Open Ended

Two high school basketball teams have identical records of 15 wins and 2 losses. Sunnyside High School's mean score is 50 points and its MAD is 4 points. Shadyside High School's mean score is 60 points and its MAD is 15 points. Lin read the records of each team’s score. She likes the team that had nearly the same score for every game it played. Which team do you think Lin likes? Explain your reasoning.

Open Ended

Producers of 2 TV shows ask 100 viewers for their ages. For one show, the mean age of the viewers is 35 years and the MAD is 20 years. For the other show, the mean age of the viewers is 30 years and the MAD is 5 years. A sixth-grade student says he watches one of the shows. Which show do you think he watches? Explain your reasoning.