Comparing Data Sets Flashcards

All 5 cards in this deck

When comparing two distributions, what two types of measure should your comparison include?

An average (mean, median or mode) and a measure of spread (range or IQR), both written in context.

When comparing two data sets, what does a smaller interquartile range tell you?

The middle 50% of the values are less spread out, so that data set is more consistent.

When comparing two data sets, what does a higher median tell you?

On average the values in that set are larger.

e.g. "the boys' times were generally longer"

True or false? A data set with a larger range is more consistent.

False. A larger range means the data is more spread out, so less consistent.

Give a reason for choosing the mean rather than the median as the average of a data set.

The mean uses all of the data values.