STATISTICS - 3.1 MEASURES OF CENTRAL
TENDENCY.
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What does it mean if a statistic is resistant? - Answer: Extreme values (very large or
small) relative to the data do not affect its value substantially.
A statistic is resistant if it is not sensitive to extreme values.
Resistant - Answer: A numerical summary of data is said to be resistant if extreme
values (very large or small) relative to the data do not affect its value substantially.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses the median to
report the average price of a home in the United States. Why do you think HUD uses
the median? - Answer: HUD uses the median because the data are skewed to the right,
and the median is better for skewed data.
A histogram of a set of data indicates that the distribution of the data is skewed right.
Which measure of central tendency will likely be larger, the mean or the median? Why?
- Answer: When data are either skewed left or skewed right, there are extreme values
in the tail, which tend to pull the mean in the direction of the tail. If the distribution of the
data is skewed right, there are large observations in the right tail. These observations
tend to increase the value of the mean, while having little effect on the median.
Median - Answer: The median of a variable is the value that lies in the middle of the
data when arranged in ascending order. We use "M" to represent the median.
Mean - Answer: The mean of a variable is computed by determining the sum of all the
values of the variable in the data set and dividing by the number of observations.
1
APPHIA - Crafted with Care and Precision for Academic Excellence.
TENDENCY.
Quality content you can rely on!
What does it mean if a statistic is resistant? - Answer: Extreme values (very large or
small) relative to the data do not affect its value substantially.
A statistic is resistant if it is not sensitive to extreme values.
Resistant - Answer: A numerical summary of data is said to be resistant if extreme
values (very large or small) relative to the data do not affect its value substantially.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses the median to
report the average price of a home in the United States. Why do you think HUD uses
the median? - Answer: HUD uses the median because the data are skewed to the right,
and the median is better for skewed data.
A histogram of a set of data indicates that the distribution of the data is skewed right.
Which measure of central tendency will likely be larger, the mean or the median? Why?
- Answer: When data are either skewed left or skewed right, there are extreme values
in the tail, which tend to pull the mean in the direction of the tail. If the distribution of the
data is skewed right, there are large observations in the right tail. These observations
tend to increase the value of the mean, while having little effect on the median.
Median - Answer: The median of a variable is the value that lies in the middle of the
data when arranged in ascending order. We use "M" to represent the median.
Mean - Answer: The mean of a variable is computed by determining the sum of all the
values of the variable in the data set and dividing by the number of observations.
1
APPHIA - Crafted with Care and Precision for Academic Excellence.
