First Pacific Bank has determined that the mean checking account balance for all its customers is currently $743.50. Based on this, it is fair to say that about half the customers have balances exceeding $743.50.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The mean (average) balance does not necessarily indicate that half of the customers have balances exceeding this amount. The distribution could be skewed with many small balances and a few very large ones, or vice versa. The median, not the mean, is the measure that indicates the middle value where half the observations lie above and half below.

First Pacific Bank Has Determined That the Mean Checking Account