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Seven flats are for sale on one street, in a made-up list…
Contributed by StemPy LabTry it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
Seven flats are for sale on one street, in a made-up list. Their prices, in thousands, are and . Find the mean price to two decimal places and the median price. Which of the two describes a typical flat on this street, and what does the gap between them suggest about the shape?
Need a reminder? The key ideaShow
The mean is the balance point and follows a long tail; the median is the middle value and hardly moves. Usually a right skew gives mean > median and a left skew gives mean < median. Report the median for skewed data.
The worked solution
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. The mean. thousand.
Step 2. The median. The prices are already sorted. The fourth is 150 thousand.
Answer: The mean is about thousand and the median is 150 thousand. The median describes a typical flat: six of the seven prices are below the mean.
Shape. The mean is far above the median, so the data is skewed right. One large flat at 480 thousand makes the tail.
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