. Which of the following are measures of central tendency? Select all that apply. a) Standard Deviation b) Median c) Mode d) Mean
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Correct Answers:
b) Median
c) Mode
d) Mean
Explanation
Measures of central tendency are statistical metrics used to identify the center point or typical value within a dataset. They provide a summary of the data by indicating where most values tend to cluster. The three main measures of central tendency are the mean, median, and mode. These values help in understanding and interpreting data distributions.
The mean, commonly known as the average, is found by adding all the values in a dataset and dividing the total by the number of values. It is a useful measure for symmetrical distributions without outliers. However, it can be heavily influenced by extremely high or low values.
The median is the middle value when the numbers are arranged in order. If the dataset has an odd number of observations, the median is the center number. If it has an even number, the median is the average of the two central numbers. The median is particularly useful when dealing with skewed distributions or outliers because it is not affected by extreme values.
The mode is the value or values that appear most frequently in a dataset. A dataset can have no mode, one mode, or multiple modes. This measure is especially useful for categorical data, where we are interested in knowing which is the most common category.
On the other hand, standard deviation is not a measure of central tendency. It is a measure of dispersion or variability. It tells us how spread out the values in a dataset are around the mean. A small standard deviation indicates that the values tend to be close to the mean, while a large one suggests greater variability.
In conclusion, the mean, median, and mode are all measures of central tendency, while the standard deviation measures the spread of data rather than its center.
