Question

eric is comparing the credit scores of his friends. the scores he gathered are found in the table below.
588 838 691 818 846 725 605 732 750
among this batch of credit scores, find whether the mean or the median is higher, and how much higher it is. (round to the nearest whole point, if applicable.)
a. the mean is 113 points higher than the median.
b. the mean is 1 point higher than the median.
c. the median is 15 points higher than the mean.
d. the median is 8 points higher than the mean.
please select the best answer from the choices provided
a
b
c

Explanation:

Step1: Calculate the Mean

First, sum all the credit scores: \( 588 + 838 + 691 + 818 + 846 + 725 + 605 + 732 + 750 \). Let's compute that:
\( 588 + 838 = 1426 \); \( 1426 + 691 = 2117 \); \( 2117 + 818 = 2935 \); \( 2935 + 846 = 3781 \); \( 3781 + 725 = 4506 \); \( 4506 + 605 = 5111 \); \( 5111 + 732 = 5843 \); \( 5843 + 750 = 6593 \).
There are 9 scores, so the mean \( \bar{x} = \frac{6593}{9} \approx 732.56 \), rounded to the nearest whole number is \( 733 \).

Step2: Calculate the Median

First, order the scores from least to greatest: \( 588, 605, 691, 725, 732, 750, 818, 838, 846 \).
Since there are 9 (odd) scores, the median is the middle value, which is the 5th term. The 5th term is \( 732 \).

Step3: Compare Mean and Median

Mean is \( 733 \), Median is \( 732 \). The difference is \( 733 - 732 = 1 \). So the mean is 1 point higher than the median.

Answer:

b. The mean is 1 point higher than the median.