7.16            The student will create and solve problems involving the measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) and the range of a set of data.

Measures of central tendency are types of averages for a data set. They represent numbers that describe a data set. Mean, median, and mode are measures of central tendency that are useful for describing the average for different situations.

Mean works well for sets of data with no very high or low numbers.

Median is a good choice when data sets have a couple of values much higher or lower than most of the others.

Mode is a good descriptor to use when the set of data has some identical values.

The mean of a set of numbers is the sum of the set of numbers divided by the number of numbers in the set.

The median is the middle number of a set of data when the numbers are arranged from least to greatest or the mean of the two middle numbers when the set has two middle numbers.

The mode is the number that appears most frequently in a set of data. There may be one, more than one, or no mode.

The range is the difference between the greatest number and the least number in a set of data.

Range indicates how data is spread out or dispersed.  

For any given problem situation involving a set of data, the analysis is likely to include examination of measures of central tendency and dispersion of this data.

Measures of Central Tendency