Question

a librarian was trying to figure out the number of books in the non - fiction section. the values below represent the numbers of books on each shelf of a corner bookcase. 27, 15, 23, 15, 22, 18, 16, 14, 23, 25, 13, 29. which measure of central tendency should the librarian use? the mean the median either the mean or median since they are the same neither the mean nor median because there is too much variability

Explanation:

Step1: Recall measure - central tendency

The two main measures of central tendency are the mean and the median. The mean is the sum of all values divided by the number of values. The median is the middle - value when the data is arranged in ascending or descending order.

Step2: Check for outliers

Outliers can greatly affect the mean. In the data set \(13,14,15,15,15,16,18,22,23,23,25,27,29\), there are no extreme outliers. When there are no extreme outliers, the mean is a good measure of central tendency as it takes into account all the values in the data set.

Answer:

the mean