Question

Over the first five years of owning her car, Gina drove about 12,700 miles the first year, 15,478 miles the second year, 12,765 the third year, 11,850 the fourth year, and 13,075 the fifth year.
a. Find the mean, median, and mode of this data.
b. Explain which measure of central tendency will best predict how many miles Gina will drive in the sixth year.

Answer 1

A. mean = 13,173.6; median = 12,765; no mode; the median is the best choice because it is not skewed by the high outlier.


B. mean = 13,173.6; median = 12,765; mode = 3,628; the median is the best choice because it is not skewed by the higher outlier.


C. mean = 12,700; median = 13,156; no mode; the mean is the best choice because it is representative of the entire data set.


D. mean = 13,173.6; median = 12,765; no mode; the mean is the best choice because it is representative of the entire data set.

Answer 2

The mean : you must add up all the 5 values together and divide by 5

Answer 3

The median: order the values from smallest the largest, and the middle value (the 3rd value) in the ordered list will be the median

Answer 4

the mode is the value that occurs most frequently in the data set, but since each value occurs only once, there is no mode

Answer 5

and usually the median is a good measure as it's not as influenced by outliers

Answer 6

Thanks!! After doing what you said Im getting C. Do you think that's right?

Answer 7

I would go with A

Answer 8

I was really thinking C now i'm confused

Answer 9

well the mean is the value you get when you add all the 5 values, and then divide by 5

the median is the middle value of your data set, once you order it from smallest to largest. (and since you have an off number of values (5), the middle value is actually going to be a number in your data set)

The fact that C says the median is a value not in your data set would immediately rule out that choice.