Question #N836

Data set A: 5, 5, 9, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 Data set B: 5, 5, 9, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 10, 100 Which of the following statements about the means and medians of data set A and data set B is true?
A. Only the means are different.
B. Only the medians are different.
C. Both the means and the medians are different.
D. Neither the means nor the medians are different.

Correct Answer is: A

The mean of a data set is the sum of the values divided by the number of values. The mean of data set A is 45/9, or 5. The mean of data set B is 145/10, or 14.5. Thus, the means are different. The median of a data set is the middle value when the values are ordered from least to greatest. The medians of data sets A and B are both 5. Therefore, the medians are the same, so only the means are different.