Which statistic describes the spread between the maximum and minimum values in a data set?

Which statistic describes the spread between the maximum and minimum values in a data set?

• A. Mean
• B. Median
• C. Mode
• D. Range

Answer: (D)

Spread describes how far apart the values in a data set are. The range captures this by measuring the distance between the largest and smallest values, calculated as the maximum minus the minimum. It gives a quick sense of how wide the data are. Because it depends only on the two end values, the range can be heavily influenced by outliers, making it larger even if most data sit close together. The mean, median, and mode, on the other hand, describe central tendency—the typical value—rather than how spread out the values are. For example, with data like 1, 2, 2, 2, 10, the range is 9, highlighting the big gap between the smallest and largest values, while the mean is 3.4, the median is 2, and the mode is 2, which tell you about the center and most frequent value but not the overall spread as clearly as the range.

Spread describes how far apart the values in a data set are. The range captures this by measuring the distance between the largest and smallest values, calculated as the maximum minus the minimum. It gives a quick sense of how wide the data are. Because it depends only on the two end values, the range can be heavily influenced by outliers, making it larger even if most data sit close together. The mean, median, and mode, on the other hand, describe central tendency—the typical value—rather than how spread out the values are. For example, with data like 1, 2, 2, 2, 10, the range is 9, highlighting the big gap between the smallest and largest values, while the mean is 3.4, the median is 2, and the mode is 2, which tell you about the center and most frequent value but not the overall spread as clearly as the range.