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Lesson Contents:

1.1 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this section you will be able to do the following:

Understand when, where, and why mean, median, and mode are used in different situations and are able to apply these measures to real-world applications.
Know how to use the calculator to calculate problems involving mean, median, and mode in real-world problems.

1.2 Introduction and Rationale

Understanding the difference between mean, median, and mode, and where, when, and why these measures are used can help students understand and interpret the implications of datasets better. Understanding the concepts of mean, median and mode can help provide a foundation for future math learning and other skills. An everyday life example: looking at a dataset consisting of flu rates 5 years before and after a flu vaccine intervention is put in place, if the mean flu rate is lower after the intervention is put in place than before, one might draw the conclusion that the intervention is associated with lower flu rates. But if the median reveals that the rates are actually the same, this may indicate an outlier skewing the results, and may suggest that further analysis is required to look at the trend.

1.3 What is Mean, Median and Mode

Mean, median and mode are all measures of central position of a dataset (Furey, n.d.).

Mean: The average value of a data set.
Median: The central number of an ordered data set.
Mode: The number in a data set that occurs most frequently.

1.4 How Do I Use Mean, Median, and Mode