Back to Use measures of center and measures of variability to draw informal comparative inferences about two populations — Problem 1 · Task Set 39

7.SP.B.4 Tutor Intake -- Comparing Two Populations with Center and Variability

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Grade 7·8 problems·~12 min·Common Core Math - Grade 7·standard·7-sp-b-4

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Concepts

Data Set A: 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10
Data Set B: 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 27

Data Set B has one unusually large value (27) that Data Set A
does not have. Which measure of center should you use to
describe Data Set B's typical value, and why?

Median — it is not pulled toward the outlier the way the mean is

Mean — it is the most commonly used measure, so it should always be reported

Median — because the mean cannot be computed when an outlier is present

Mean — because it uses every data value, so it is always more accurate