Comparative Inferences: Central Tendency with Line Plots

Patrick plays football for his middle school. The table below shows Patrick's rushing yards for the first five games of the season.

Which measure of central tendency would best represent Patrick's rushing yards during the first five games of the season?

• The mean. Because it is 25 yards higher than the median.

• The mean. Because it shows how many yards Patrick averages each game.

• The median. Because it is 25 yards higher than the mean.

• The median. Because the mean is influenced by an outlier number.

Use the information in the table to answer the question.

The table shows the points scored for 3 basketball players in 5 games.

Which statement is true?

• All 3 players have the same mean score.

• All 3 players have the same median score.

• Cheryl has the highest median score.

• Michael has the highest mean score.

The data in the chart shows the recorded high temperatures for the first eight days of July and the first eight days of August.

Based on the data, which statement is true?

• The data from both months have the same median, and August has a higher mean.

• The data from both months have the same median, and July has a higher mean.

• The data from August has both a higher median and a higher mean.

• The data from July has a higher median, and the mean is the same.

A teacher analyzed the data from her class's recent tests by creating a box-and-whisker plot.

Which statement about the data is true?

• The median math score is 85.

• The upper quartile reading value is 98.

• Fifty percent of the math scores were between 70 and 85.

• Twenty-five percent of the reading scores were between 67 and 91.

The line plots show the test scores of 10 students who regularly attended weekly tutoring sessions and 10 students who did not attend any tutoring sessions.

Which is a valid inference based on the data?

• Every student who attended tutoring had a higher score than those who did not.

• On average, students who attended tutoring scored higher than students who did not.

• On average, students who attended tutoring scored about the same as students who did not.

• Attending tutoring had no effect on students’ test scores.

The table shows the number of runs scored by the North Middle School softball team in the first four games of the season.

How many runs must the North Middle School softball team score in the fifth game so that the mean and median of the data will be the same?

• 9 runs

• 10 runs

• 11 runs

• 12 runs

The two data sets are random samples of profits earned by two companies in the last seven years.

Based on the data sets, which measure of center will provide the most accurate estimation of the profit earned by each company, and why?

• The mean; the data sets have outliers that will affect the median.

• The mean; both companies have the same number of values in the data set.

• The median; the data sets have outliers that will affect the mean.

• The median; both companies have the same number of values in the data set.

The heights of two rowing teams, in inches, are shown in the table.

Which team has the larger average height, and what is that average?

• Junior Varsity; 70

• Junior Varsity; 71

• Varsity; 70

• Varsity; 71

The prices of homes in 2 different neighborhoods are listed in the table.

Which measure is best to base a comparison of the typical home price in the 2 neighborhoods?

• mean

• median

• mode

• interquartile range

The table shows the bowling scores of two bowlers in a five-game set. In bowling, the highest score of each game wins.

Which statement is true?

• Bowler 1’s median score is 13 points higher than Bowler 2’s median score, and Bowler 1 is generally a better bowler than Bowler 2.

• Bowler 1’s median score is 13 points lower than Bowler 2’s median score, and Bowler 1 is generally a worse bowler than Bowler 2.

• Bowler 1’s median score is 35 points higher than Bowler 2’s median score, and Bowler 1 is generally a better bowler than Bowler 2.

• Bowler 1’s median score is 35 points lower than Bowler 2’s median score, and Bowler 1 is generally a worse bowler than Bowler 2.