Question

a reporter collected data on the purchase prices, in thousands of dollars, of 72 cars sold in a region. the following histogram summarizes the reporter’s data. for a presentation on the data collected, the reporter used the median of the distribution to describe the typical purchase price. which of the following might explain the use of median to describe the typical purchase price? a there is an outlier between $80,000 and $85,000. medians are resistant to outliers, while means are not. b the number of observations that fall within a given interval is known. however, within each interval, the actual values are not known. c the distribution is left skewed. d the values represented in the histogram are in the thousands. e the distribution is uniform.

Explanation:

• Option A: Outliers (like the one at $80k - $85k) affect the mean but not the median (median is resistant). This explains using median for typical value.
• Option B: Not knowing actual values in intervals doesn't relate to median vs mean choice.
• Option C: The histogram shows right skew (tail on right), not left skew.
• Option D: Unit (thousands) doesn't impact median/mean choice.
• Option E: The distribution isn't uniform (frequencies vary).

Answer:

A. There is an outlier between $80,000 and $85,000. Medians are resistant to outliers, while means are not.