Question

2.2 For each of the following situations, identi fy the measure of central tendency (mean, median, or mode) that would provide the best description of the average" or most representative score. Please explain your choice: a A researcher asks each individual in a sample of 50 adults to name his her favorite season (summer, fall, winter, spring) b. An insurance company would like to determine how long people remain hospitalized after a routine appendectomy. The data from a large sample indicate that most people are released after 2 or 3 days but a few develop infections and stay in the hospital for weeks c.A teacher measures scores on a standardized reading test for a sample of children from a middle-class, suburban elementary school.

Answer 1

a.

Mode. as it a nominan variable

b,

Median. As the variable is ration and there are 'few' outliers (people who stay for weeks). To reduce the effect of these outliers we take median otherwise mean would have been a bad indicator

c.

Mean. Because the average of the data is the correct indicator here