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All 20 Flashcards — Measures of central tendency
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Question
What are measures of central tendency?
Answer
Ways to find the 'middle' or 'typical' value — mean, median and mode.
💡 Hint
Middle value: mean, median, mode
Question
Mean = total ÷ count (affected by ___). Median = middle (___). Mode = most frequent.
Answer
Outliers; not affected by outliers.
💡 Hint
Outliers; unaffected
Question
Data: 5,8,8,10,12,15,50. Mean?
Answer
(5+8+8+10+12+15+50) ÷ 7 = 108 ÷ 7 = 15.4
💡 Hint
15.4
Question
When to use mean?
Answer
Evenly spread data with no extreme outliers — the standard 'average'.
💡 Hint
No outliers
Question
Data: 5,8,8,10,12,15,50. Median?
Answer
10 — the 4th value (middle of 7 ordered values).
💡 Hint
10
Question
Choose the right measure for the data — ___ matter!
Answer
Outliers — they determine whether mean or median is more appropriate.
💡 Hint
Outliers
Question
When to use median?
Answer
When outliers could distort the average — e.g. wages, house prices.
💡 Hint
Outliers present
Question
Mean formula?
Answer
Add up all values ÷ number of values. Uses every data point but distorted by outliers.
💡 Hint
Total ÷ count
Question
When to use mode?
Answer
Finding the most popular item — e.g. best-selling shoe size or product.
💡 Hint
Most popular
Question
Always show your ___ in calculations
Answer
Working — method marks available even if answer is wrong.
💡 Hint
Working
Question
Data: 5,8,8,10,12,15,50. Mode?
Answer
8 — appears twice, more than any other value.
💡 Hint
8
Question
What is the median?
Answer
Middle value when data is ordered. Not affected by outliers — good for skewed data.
💡 Hint
Middle when ordered
Question
What is the mode?
Answer
Most frequent value. Can have no mode, one, or multiple. Useful for popularity.
💡 Hint
Most common
Question
Quick: Outlier present → use ___
Answer
Median instead of mean.
💡 Hint
Median
Question
The mean (15.4) is pulled up by the outlier (50). Better measure?
Answer
Median (10) — more representative of the typical value.
💡 Hint
Median
Question
Mean = add and divide. Median = ___. Mode = ___
Answer
Middle of ordered list; most frequent.
💡 Hint
Middle; most frequent
Question
Quick: Most popular item → use ___
Answer
Mode.
💡 Hint
Mode
Question
Mean is distorted by ___ but median is not
Answer
Outliers (extreme values) — mean gets pulled toward them.
💡 Hint
Outliers
Question
For salary data, ___ is usually better than mean
Answer
Median — a few very high salaries pull the mean up, giving a misleading average.
💡 Hint
Median
Question
If data has an obvious outlier, comment on ___ and suggest ___
Answer
How the mean is distorted; the median as a better measure.
💡 Hint
Mean distorted → use median
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Topic 6.7 hub
Descriptive statistics
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