Measures of Center and Variability Used When Comparing Data

The data set below has an outlier of 42.
2, 5, 12, 15, 19, 4, 6, 11, 16, 18, 12, 12, 42
What effect does removing the outlier have on the distribution of the data?

• The mean will decrease

• The median will decrease

• The mean will increase

• The median will increase

Find the mode:
5, 0, 9, 9, 3, 0, 5, 5, 4

• 9

• 5

• 3

• 7

Find the median:
5, 6, 3, 9, 0, 4, 1, 2, 7

• 4

• 4.1

• 5

• 4.5

Which measure of center best represents this set of data?
12, 13, 11, 16, 31, 14, 10, 15

• Mean

• median

• mode

What conclusion can Ms. Long make about the performance of her first- and second-period classes?

• The first-period class had a higher median score than the second-period class.

• The second-period class scores had a higher mean than the first-period class scores.

• The first-period class scores had a greater range than the second-period class scores.

• The second-period class scores had a greater mean absolute deviation than the first-period class scores.

Which measure of center and variability should you use to to compare these data sets? Choose one of each.

• Mean

• Median

• Standard Deviation

• IQR

The best description of the data is ​ (a)   . ​ ​ The most appropriate measure of center is the​ (b)   . The most appropriate measure of variability is the ​ (c)   .

• range

• mean

• IQR

• median

• skewed right

• symmetric

• symmetric with an outlier

• skewed left

The heights, in feet, of random samples of trees from three forests are shown. Move each measure into the table to identify which forest is expected to have the greatest measure of center and which forest is expected to have the greatest measure of variability based on the samples.

a

b

c

greatest variability

greatest measure of center

-

The best description of the data is ​ ​ (a)   . ​ ​ The most appropriate measure of center is the​ ​ (b)   . The most appropriate measure of variability is the ​ ​ (c)   .

• range

• mean

• skewed left

• median

• IQR

• skewed right

• symmetric

• symmetric with an outlier

Which measures of center or variability are greater than 5 degrees? Select three choices.

• the mean of this week’s temperatures

• the mean of last week’s temperatures

• the range of this week’s temperatures

• the mean absolute deviation of this week’s temperatures

• the mean absolute deviation of last week’s temperatures