Name four descriptive statistics and what they convey about a data set.

Name four descriptive statistics and what they convey about a data set.

• A. Median (middle value), mean (center), mode (most frequent value), range.
• B. Mean (center), median (middle value), mode (most frequent value), standard deviation (spread).
• C. Mean, median, mode, interquartile range.
• D. Mean, range, variance, skewness.

Answer: (B)

Descriptive statistics summarize where data tend to lie and how far they spread. The mean gives the average value, signaling the central tendency around which values cluster. The median marks the middle value, which is especially informative when the data are skewed because it isn’t dragged by extreme outliers. The mode identifies the most frequent value, highlighting the most common observation in the data. The standard deviation expresses dispersion around the mean, telling you how tightly or loosely the data are clustered and using the same units as the data, which makes interpretation intuitive. This combination—mean for center, median for a robust center when skewed, mode for the most common value, and standard deviation for spread around the mean—provides a balanced, widely used snapshot of a data set. Other options swap in range or interquartile range, which either focuses only on the extreme span or measures spread in a way that’s less tied to the center used for many analyses, making them less consistent with a typical descriptive summary.

Descriptive statistics summarize where data tend to lie and how far they spread. The mean gives the average value, signaling the central tendency around which values cluster. The median marks the middle value, which is especially informative when the data are skewed because it isn’t dragged by extreme outliers. The mode identifies the most frequent value, highlighting the most common observation in the data. The standard deviation expresses dispersion around the mean, telling you how tightly or loosely the data are clustered and using the same units as the data, which makes interpretation intuitive.

This combination—mean for center, median for a robust center when skewed, mode for the most common value, and standard deviation for spread around the mean—provides a balanced, widely used snapshot of a data set. Other options swap in range or interquartile range, which either focuses only on the extreme span or measures spread in a way that’s less tied to the center used for many analyses, making them less consistent with a typical descriptive summary.