10 Which one of the following would be affected by out extre
Solution
MEAN
 Use the mean to describe the middle of a set of data that does not have an outlier.
Advantages:
    • Most popular measure in fields such as business, engineering and computer science.
    • It is unique - there is only one answer.
    • Useful when comparing sets of data.
Disadvantages:
    • Affected by extreme values (outliers)
MEDIAN
 Use the median to describe the middle of a set of data that does have an outlier.
Advantages:
    • Extreme values (outliers) do not affect the median as strongly as they do the mean.
    • Useful when comparing sets of data.
    • It is unique - there is only one answer.
 
 Disadvantages:
    • Not as popular as mean.
MODE
 Use the mode when the data is non-numeric or when asked to choose the most popular item.
Advantages:
    • Extreme values (outliers) do not affect the mode.
Disadvantages:
    • Not as popular as mean and median.
    • Not necessarily unique - may be more than one answer
    • When no values repeat in the data set, the mode is every value and is useless.
    • When there is more than one mode, it is difficult to interpret and/or compare.

