A disadvantage of using an arithmetic mean to summarize a set of data is
A)The arithmetic mean sometimes has two values.
B)It can be used for interval and ratio data.
C)It is always different from the median.
D)It can be biased by one or two extremely small or large values.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The use of an arithmetic mean can be influenced by extreme values, known as outliers, which can skew the value of the mean. This can lead to a misrepresentation of the central tendency of the data. Therefore, the arithmetic mean is not always the best measure of central tendency when dealing with data that has outliers.

A Disadvantage of Using an Arithmetic Mean to Summarize a Set