True or false: averages that mislead

Exercise and reference answers

Questions

1. Statement is true

   Yes

   Statement

   A single very large value raises the mean.

2. Statement is true

   No

   Statement

   The mean can sit outside the range of the data.

3. Statement is true

   Yes

   Statement

   Two groups with equal means can differ widely in spread.

4. Statement is true

   Yes

   Statement

   The range ignores everything but the two extremes.

5. Statement is true

   No

   Statement

   Quoting only an average tells the whole story.

Explanation