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Ch. 2 - Descriptive Statistics
Larson - Elementary Statistics: Picturing the World 8th Edition
Larson8th EditionElementary Statistics: Picturing the WorldISBN: 9780137493470Not the one you use?Change textbook
Chapter 2, Problem 2.3.62a

Extending Concepts


Golf The distances (in yards) for nine holes of a golf course are listed.
336 393 408 522 147 504 177 375 360


a. Find the mean and the median of the data.

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1
Step 1: To find the mean, sum up all the distances provided in the data set. Use the formula for the mean: Mean = xn, where x is the sum of all distances and n is the number of data points.
Step 2: Add up all the distances: 336 + 393 + 408 + 522 + 147 + 504 + 177 + 375 + 360. This gives the total sum of the distances.
Step 3: Divide the total sum obtained in Step 2 by the number of data points (9) to calculate the mean.
Step 4: To find the median, first arrange the distances in ascending order: 147, 177, 336, 360, 375, 393, 408, 504, 522.
Step 5: Since there are 9 data points (an odd number), the median is the middle value in the ordered list. Identify the 5th value in the ordered list to determine the median.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Mean

The mean, or average, is calculated by summing all the values in a dataset and then dividing by the number of values. In this case, to find the mean distance of the golf holes, you would add all the distances together and divide by nine, the total number of holes. The mean provides a measure of central tendency that represents the overall average distance.
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Median

The median is the middle value in a dataset when the values are arranged in ascending order. If there is an even number of observations, the median is the average of the two middle numbers. For the golf hole distances, you would first sort the distances and then identify the middle value, which gives insight into the central tendency without being affected by extreme values.
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Data Set

A data set is a collection of related values that can be analyzed to extract meaningful information. In this context, the distances of the nine golf holes form a data set that can be used to calculate statistical measures like the mean and median. Understanding the structure and characteristics of the data set is crucial for accurate analysis.
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