Question

how to calculate mean absolute deviation
step 1: calculate the mean or average of the data.
step 2: find the absolute deviation by taking the absolute value of the difference between each data point and the mean.
step 3: find the average of the absolute deviations.
choose the correct answer
the number of books read by students is 5, 7, 4, 6, and 8. what is the mad of the books read?
1.2
4
6

Explanation:

Step1: Calculate the mean

The mean $\bar{x}$ of the data set $5,7,4,6,8$ is $\bar{x}=\frac{5 + 7+4+6+8}{5}=\frac{30}{5}=6$.

Step2: Calculate the absolute deviations

For $5$: $|5 - 6|=1$; for $7$: $|7 - 6|=1$; for $4$: $|4 - 6|=2$; for $6$: $|6 - 6|=0$; for $8$: $|8 - 6|=2$.

Step3: Calculate the mean absolute deviation (MAD)

MAD $=\frac{1+1+2+0+2}{5}=\frac{6}{5}=1.2$.

Answer:

1.2