Certified Quality Auditor (CQA) Prasctice Exam

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Which of the following statistics would best describe the central tendency of a sample of data?

  1. Mode

  2. Mean

  3. Standard deviation

  4. Range

The correct answer is: Mean

The mean is the statistic that best describes the central tendency of a sample of data because it calculates the average value by summing all the data points and dividing by the number of points. This provides a single representative value that reflects the overall distribution of the data set. The mean incorporates all values in the data set, making it sensitive to every individual score, which can provide a more comprehensive picture of the data's center. In contrast, the mode identifies the most frequently occurring value in a dataset, which may not necessarily represent the center when values are distributed unevenly. The standard deviation measures the variation or spread of data points around the mean, reflecting how much the data varies rather than indicating central tendency. The range indicates the difference between the highest and lowest values in the dataset, providing insight into the dataset's spread but not its central value. Thus, the mean is the most appropriate statistic for expressing the central tendency.