In a set of incomes in which most people are in the $15,000 through $40,000 range, which measure of central tendency would be most disturbed by an income of $1 million?
A) mode
B) median
C) mean
D) frequency

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The mean is calculated by summing all the incomes and dividing by the number of incomes. One extremely high income of $1 million will greatly increase the sum, which will greatly increase the mean, making it an unreliable measure of central tendency in this scenario. The mode is the most frequent income, which would not be impacted by a single high income. The median is the middle income when all incomes are ordered from smallest to largest. Depending on the number of incomes, the median may or may not be impacted by a single high income. Frequency is not a measure of central tendency, but rather a measure of how often a value occurs.

In a Set of Incomes in Which Most People Are