The monthly rents for five apartments advertised in a newspaper were $650,$650,$740,$1650, and $820. use the mean, median, and mode of the rents to answer the question. which value best describes the monthly rents? explain.

The correct answer is:

The median is a better representation of the data.

Explanation:

First we will order the data from least to greatest:
650,650,740,820,1650

To find the mean, we first find the sum of the data:
650+650+740+820+1650 = 4510

Now we divide by the number of data points, 5:
4510/5 = 902

The median is the middle number of the data set.  We can see that this is $740.

The mode is the data value that occurs most often; this is $650.

The median and the mode are fairly close.  The mean, however, is much different.  This is because of the outlier value, $1650.  If we were to take this value out, the sum would be:

650+650+740+820 = 2860
Divide by 4:
2860/4 = 715

This value is much closer to the median and the mode; however, it is not the true mean of the data set.

The mean is not a good measure because of the outlier and its affect on the mean.

The mode is not the best measure, since it is also the smallest number of the set.

The median is the better value, as it is close to most of the values in the data set.