Question
It is important to know how spread out or tightly clustered our data are. Which of the following is NOT a measure of spread? Choose the correct answer below. A. IQR B. Range C. Standard deviation D. Mean
Ask by Welch Thornton. in the United States
Jan 23,2025
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Answer
The mean is not a measure of spread.
Solution
The correct answer is:
**D. Mean**
**Explanation:**
- **IQR (Interquartile Range)** measures the spread of the middle 50% of the data.
- **Range** is the difference between the highest and lowest values in the dataset.
- **Standard Deviation** quantifies the amount of variation or dispersion in a set of data values.
All of the above (IQR, Range, Standard Deviation) are measures of spread, which describe how data points are distributed around a central value.
- **Mean**, on the other hand, is a measure of central tendency, which provides a central value around which the data points are distributed. It does not describe the spread of the data.
**Therefore, the mean is NOT a measure of spread.**
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Extra Insights
The mean, while a crucial statistic that gives us the average of our data set, does not measure how spread out or tightly clustered the data are. Instead, measures like the IQR (Interquartile Range), range, and standard deviation are specifically designed to capture variability within the data. Understanding these concepts can be incredibly handy in real-world applications! For instance, in finance, investors use standard deviation to assess how volatile a stock's returns are, helping them gauge risk and make informed decisions on where to put their money.