The head circumference (in centimeters) of 15 college-age males was obtained, resulting in the following measurements: 55, 56, 56, 56.5, 57, 57, 57, 57.5, 58, 58, 58, 58.5, 59, 59, 63. If the last measurement (63 cm's) were incorrectly recorded as 73, which one of the following statistics would change?
A) Q1 (1st quartile)
B) Standard deviation
C) Median
D) Q3 (3rd quartile)

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The standard deviation is sensitive to extreme values or outliers. Changing a data point from 63 to 73 would significantly affect the spread of the data, thus altering the standard deviation. Other measures like quartiles and median are more robust to such changes, especially when the change does not affect the data points that define these statistics.

The Head Circumference (In Centimeters) of 15 College-Age Males Was