Prepared by Dr. Agatha Shaw, Valencia College, 9/19/2007

http://faculty.valencia.cc.fl.us/ashaw

QUICK REVIEW: CLAST SKILL II.D.1

Recognize properties and interrelationships among the mean, median, and mode

Some Guidelines:

* If the distribution is symmetric with respect to the mode, then the mean, median and mode are all the

same.

* If the distribution is skewed to the left (it has a tail to the left), then “mean < mode” and “median

mode.”

* If the distribution is skewed to the right (it has a tail to the right), then “mean > mode” and “median

mode.”

1. The graph below shows the distribution of the different sizes in memory sticks, carried by a class of

students in a college.

1

2

3

4

Memory (in GB)

Which of the following statement is true about the distribution?

a) The mean is greater than the median.

b) The mode is the same as the mean.

c) The median is greater than the mode.

d) The mean is less than the mode.

2. The graph below shows the distribution of the number of bedrooms in an apartment complex at

Orlando.

1

2 3

4

5

Number of Bedrooms

Which of the following statement is true about the distribution?

a) The mean is greater than the median.

b) The mode is the same as the mean.

c) The median is greater than the mode.

d) The mean is less than the mode.

3. An instructor asked the student about how many hours a week they spent on their homework.

Nearly half of them said they spent about five hours a week and almost a quarter of them said they

spent about three hours a week; most of the other said they spent about two hours a week and two

students said they spent about an hour a week.

Which of the following statement is true about the distribution?

a) The mean is less than the median.

b) The mode is the same as the median.