What does it mean when a data set contains an outlier?
a. Someone broke the law.
b. The data is incorrect.
c. The data is corrupt and cannot be trusted.
d. The data contains an unusual & inconsistent amount.

Question

What does it mean when a data set contains an outlier?   
        a. Someone broke the law.
        b. The data is incorrect.
        c. The data is corrupt and cannot be trusted.
        d. The data contains an unusual & inconsistent amount.

btaylor · Answer

If you measured the heights of a class of high schoolers and your data was:
70"  66"  62"  55"  72"  68"  77"  45"
45" Is the outlier because it is so far away from the rest of the data. Which answer does that sound like?

anonymous · Answer

i don't know

btaylor · Answer

all the data is accurate (so b and c are wrong)
45" is unusual given the other data points. So it's D.

anonymous · Answer

okay thanks

anonymous · Answer

so is a because no one broke the law