Which statistic is most affected by extreme values?

Which statistic is most affected by extreme values?

• A. Mode
• B. Median
• C. Mean
• D. Range

Answer: (C)

The mean is the statistic most affected by extreme values because it uses every data point in its calculation. It is the balance point of the data, so an outlier pulls the average toward itself. For example, with data like 1, 2, 2, 3, 100, the mean becomes much larger than it would be without the outlier, while the median stays the same or changes only slightly. The mode depends on the most frequent value and often remains unchanged by an extreme value. The range changes directly because it stretches from the smallest to the largest value, so it can be influenced by extremes too, but the mean uniquely reflects changes across all observations rather than just the extremes.

The mean is the statistic most affected by extreme values because it uses every data point in its calculation. It is the balance point of the data, so an outlier pulls the average toward itself. For example, with data like 1, 2, 2, 3, 100, the mean becomes much larger than it would be without the outlier, while the median stays the same or changes only slightly. The mode depends on the most frequent value and often remains unchanged by an extreme value. The range changes directly because it stretches from the smallest to the largest value, so it can be influenced by extremes too, but the mean uniquely reflects changes across all observations rather than just the extremes.