The number of credits being taken by a sample of 13 full-time college students are listed below. Find the mean, median, and mode of the data, if possible. If any measure cannot be found or does not represent the center of the data, explain why. \( \begin{array}{lllllllll}4 & 6 & 7 & 4 & 3 & 3 & 5 & 3 & 3\end{array} 3^{2} \) Find the mean. Select the correct choice below and, if necessary, fill in the answer box to complete your choice. A. The mean is (Type an integer or decimal rounded to one decimal place as needed.) B. The data set does not have a mean. Does the mean represent the center of the data? A. The mean represents the center. B. The mean does not represent the center because it is the largest data value. C. The mean does not represent the center because it is the smallest data value.
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To find the mean, we first add all the numbers together: \(4 + 6 + 7 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 5 + 3 + 3 = 38\). Then, we divide the total by the number of students (9). So, the mean is \( \frac{38}{9} \approx 4.2 \). A is the correct choice: The mean is 4.2. The mean can sometimes be skewed by extreme values, but in this case, it provides a reasonable central measure. Now, let's discuss the median and mode. To find the median, we first sort the data: \(3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7\). With 9 values, the median is the middle one, which is the 5th value: 4. For the mode, it's the most frequently occurring number, which is 3. Thus, the median is 4 and the mode is 3. The mean represents the center of the data, but it can be misleading if there are outliers; here, the mode and median offer valuable insights too!