Finding Measures for 12, 15, 13, 12, 18, 20, 12

Pre-Algebra · Axiom Academy

EXAMPLE Finding Measures of Central Tendency Work through the mean, median, and mode of one data set and see how a repeated value pulls each measure differently. Find the mode , median , and mean of the following data set, then compare the three measures. Nice work — you found all three measures of central tendency for the same data set. Here's what each one told us: Mode (12): the most frequent value. The three 12s make it the mode — yet it's also the smallest value in the set. Median (13): the middle value once the data is ordered. It depends on position, so the repeated 12s shift it only a little. Mean ( 14.57): the average of every value. The large values 18 and 20 pull it above both the mode and the median. Effect of a repeated value: a repeat sets the mode and nudges the median, but the mean weighs every number — so high values can lift it past the other two. Because the mean responds to every value (including outliers) while the median tracks only position, comparing them tells you which measure best describes a given data set.

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