Question

A local real estate magazine used the median instead of the mean when it reported the SAT score of the average student who attends Groveland High School. A graphical display of SAT scores of students who attend GHS indicated that the data were strongly skewed to the right. Which of the following explains why, in this situation, the median is a more accurate indicator of the SAT score of the average student than the mean is?
A) The mean is affected by the skewness, whereas the median is not.
B) The median is always the preferred statistic.
C) The mean will be less than the median when the data are strongly skewed to the right.
D) The mean should be used only when data are strongly skewed to the left.
E) The median is equal to one-half the sum of the maximum and minimum SAT scores at GHS.

Answer 1

Answer:

A) The mean is affected by the skewness, whereas the median is not.

Explanation:

A graphical display of SAT scores of students who attend GHS indicated that the data were strongly skewed to the right.

In this situation, the median is a more accurate indicator of the SAT score of the average student than the mean is because the mean is affected by the skewness, whereas the median is not. The skewness having no effect on the median means a higher level of accuracy due to lesser unknown factors being present as to when compared with the mean which is affected by the skewness.