The mean of a dataset is defined as

• A. The sum of all values divided by the number of values
• B. The largest value in the dataset
• C. The difference between maximum and minimum values
• D. The middle value when ordered

Answer: (A)

The mean is the average value of the data. It is found by adding all the values together and then dividing by how many values there are. This gives a single central value that represents the data as a whole. For example, with values 2, 4, and 6, the sum is 12 and there are 3 values, so the mean is 12 divided by 3 equals 4. The mean is not the largest value, not the difference between the maximum and minimum (the range), and not the middle value when the data are ordered (the median).