A disadvantage of using an arithmetic mean to summarize a set of data is that ________.
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 arithmetic mean is sensitive to outliers or extreme values in the data set. This means that one or two extremely small or large values can greatly affect the value of the mean, making it less representative of the overall data set. Therefore, using the arithmetic mean as a summary statistic can sometimes lead to misleading conclusions.

A Disadvantage of Using an Arithmetic Mean to Summarize a Set