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Choosing the "best" measure of center

Mean and median both try to measure the "central tendency" in a data set. The goal of each is to get an idea of a "typical" value in the data set. The mean is commonly used, but sometimes the median is preferred.

Part 1: The mean

A golf team's 6 members had the scores below in their most recent tournament:
70,72,74,76,80,114
problem a
Calculate the mean score.
mean =
  • Your answer should be
  • an integer, like 6
  • a simplified proper fraction, like 3/5
  • a simplified improper fraction, like 7/4
  • a mixed number, like 1 3/4
  • an exact decimal, like 0.75
  • a multiple of pi, like 12 pi or 2/3 pi

problem b
What is a correct interpretation of the mean score?
Choose 1 answer:

Part 2: The median

problem a
Find the median score.
As a reminder, here are the scores: 70,72,74,76,80,114
median =
  • Your answer should be
  • an integer, like 6
  • a simplified proper fraction, like 3/5
  • a simplified improper fraction, like 7/4
  • a mixed number, like 1 3/4
  • an exact decimal, like 0.75
  • a multiple of pi, like 12 pi or 2/3 pi

problem b
What is a correct interpretation of the median score?
Choose 1 answer:

Part 3: The "best" measure of center

Which measure best describes the scores of the team?
As a reminder, here are the scores: 70,72,74,76,80,114
The
best describes the scores of the team, because the
is higher than almost all of the scores in the data set.

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