It may be easier to calculate the mean, median, and mode if you rearrange the numbers first.
Mean = 15
Median = 15
Mode = 15
Best Measure: mode
Practice makes perfect
The first thing that should be done when finding the key features of a data set is rearranging the numbers from least to greatest.
14, 14, 15, 15, 15, 16, 16
Let's proceed to finding the mean, median, and mode.
Mean
The mean of a data set is calculated by finding the sum of all values in the set and then dividing by the number of values in the set. In this case, there are 7 values in the set.
To identify the median, we observe the middle value.
14, 14, 15, 15, 15, 16, 16
We can see that the middle value in this set is 15, so this is our median.
Mode
The mode of a data set is the value that occurs most frequently.
14, 14, 15, 15, 15, 16, 16
We can see that 15 occurs more frequently than any other value in the set, so this is the mode.
Which Measure Is Best?
For the given scenario, the best measure is the mode because it occurs the most frequently within the data. It is also equal to the mean and the median.
