Average daily temperatures are most likely calculated using which method of central tendency?

Average daily temperatures are most likely calculated using which method of central tendency?

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

Answer: (D)

Mean is the typical way to summarize daily temperatures because it uses every day's value to produce a single representative number. It captures the overall level of warmth or coolness across many days, giving a balanced center for the data set. Midrange, which is just the average of the lowest and highest temperatures, ignores most of the data and can be swayed by an extreme day, so it doesn’t reliably reflect typical conditions. The median is the middle value and can be less informative for a data set like daily temperatures that vary gradually, while the mode—the most frequent temperature—often isn’t meaningful since exact temperatures don’t repeat exactly day to day.

Mean is the typical way to summarize daily temperatures because it uses every day's value to produce a single representative number. It captures the overall level of warmth or coolness across many days, giving a balanced center for the data set. Midrange, which is just the average of the lowest and highest temperatures, ignores most of the data and can be swayed by an extreme day, so it doesn’t reliably reflect typical conditions. The median is the middle value and can be less informative for a data set like daily temperatures that vary gradually, while the mode—the most frequent temperature—often isn’t meaningful since exact temperatures don’t repeat exactly day to day.