An analyst is looking at a particular dataset that includes the scores across all 8th grade students, across three schools. The analyst is trying to determine which type of statistics average to use to best represent the results. On looking through the dataset, the analyst has identified a few extreme outliers.
As a result, the analyst was led to use the following type of average:
When a dataset contains extreme outliers, the median is the best measure of central tendency to use. This is because the median represents the middle value in a dataset and is not affected by extreme values, ensuring that the average is not skewed. Unlike the mean, which can be heavily influenced by outliers, the median provides a more accurate representation of the central tendency when outliers are present.
See pg 122 Measures of central tendency/location... Median: This section mentions that the median is not affected by outliers and is often used when the data includes extreme values. The median is the most robust measure of central tendency in the presence of extreme outliers, as it accurately represents the middle value of the dataset without being skewed by outliers.