Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators: Mathematics (5733)Statistics and ProbabilityEasy

A market researcher is analyzing the number of daily visitors to a new website for the first week: 150, 165, 140, 170, 155, 160, 180. What is the median number of daily visitors?

  1. A170
  2. B155
  3. C165
  4. D160
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D. 160

To find the median, first arrange the data in ascending order: 140, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 180. Since there are 7 data points (an odd number), the median is the middle value, which is the 4th value: 160.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A. This is the sixth value in the ordered list, not the median.
  • B. This is the third value in the ordered list, not the median.
  • C. This is the fifth value in the ordered list, not the median.

Median

The middle value in a dataset when the values are arranged in ascending or descending order.

  • Not affected by outliers.
  • If n is odd, median is the (n+1)/2-th value.
  • If n is even, median is the average of the two middle values.

Memory trick: Central tendency: mean is sum, median is middle, mode is most.

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