SAT Problem Solving & Data Analysis 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A data set has values 4, 8, 8, 10, 15. What is the median?
- 8 (Correct answer)
- 9
- 10
- 8.5
Correct answer: 8
With five ordered values, the middle (third) value is 8.
Question 2: The mean of five numbers is 12. If four of them are 10, 11, 13, and 14, what is the fifth?
- 12 (Correct answer)
- 10
- 14
- 11
Correct answer: 12
The total is 5 × 12 = 60, and 60 − (10+11+13+14) = 12.
Question 3: Which measure of center is most affected by an extreme outlier?
- Mean (Correct answer)
- Median
- Mode
- Range
Correct answer: Mean
The mean uses every value, so a single extreme value shifts it significantly.
Question 4: A data set is 3, 5, 7, 9, 11. What is the range?
- 8 (Correct answer)
- 7
- 11
- 6
Correct answer: 8
Range = maximum − minimum = 11 − 3 = 8.
Question 5: The mode of the data set 2, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 8 is:
- 6 (Correct answer)
- 4
- 8
- 5
Correct answer: 6
The value 6 appears three times, more than any other value.
Question 6: If every value in a data set increases by 5, what happens to the mean?
- It increases by 5 (Correct answer)
- It stays the same
- It doubles
- It increases by 25
Correct answer: It increases by 5
Adding a constant to every value raises the mean by that same constant.
Question 7: Two data sets have the same mean, but Set A is more spread out. Which has the larger standard deviation?
- Set A (Correct answer)
- Set B
- They are equal
- Cannot be determined
Correct answer: Set A
Standard deviation measures spread, so the more spread-out set has the larger value.
SAT Problem Solving & Data Analysis 3
A data set has values 4, 8, 8, 10, 15.
What is the median?