One item on a questionnaire asks students how many times in a typical week they eat at a fast-food restaurant.The responses for a sample of n = 10 students are summarized in the frequency distribution.What is the best measure of central tendency for these data? $$\begin{array} { l l }
X & f \
\hline 5 + & 2 \
4 & 3 \
3 & 2 \
2 & 1 \
1 & 1 \
0 & 1
\end{array}$$
A)the mean
B)the median
C)the mode
D)Central tendency cannot be determined for these data.

Question

One item on a questionnaire asks students how many times in a typical week they eat at a fast-food restaurant.The responses for a sample of n = 10 students are summarized in the frequency distribution.What is the best measure of central tendency for these data? $$\begin{array} { l l } 
X & f \
\hline 5 + & 2 \
4 & 3 \
3 & 2 \
2 & 1 \
1 & 1 \
0 & 1
\end{array}$$
A)the mean
B)the median
C)the mode
D)Central tendency cannot be determined for these data.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Since the data is not symmetric, with several low values and only a few high values, the mean would be affected by the outliers. Therefore, the best measure of central tendency for these data is the median, which is the middle value when the values are arranged in order.

One Item on a Questionnaire Asks Students How Many Times Xf5+24332211101\begin{array} { l l } X & f \\\hline 5 + & 2 \\4 & 3 \\3 & 2 \\2 & 1 \\1 & 1 \\0 & 1\end{array}X5+43210​f232111​​

One Item on a Questionnaire Asks Students How Many Times $\begin{array} { l l } X & f \\\hline 5 + & 2 \\4 & 3 \\3 & 2 \\2 & 1 \\1 & 1 \\0 & 1\end{array}$