How do you interpret the mean of a data set?

The mean of a data set is the average value of all the numbers in the set.

To calculate the mean, you add up all the numbers in the data set and then divide by the total number of values. For example, if you have the numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10, you first add them together to get 30. Then, you divide 30 by the number of values, which is 5, giving you a mean of 6.

The mean is a measure of central tendency, which means it gives you an idea of what a typical value in the data set might be. It is useful for comparing different sets of data and understanding overall trends. However, the mean can be affected by extremely high or low values, known as outliers. For instance, if you have the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 100, the mean would be 22, which doesn't accurately represent most of the numbers in the set.

In summary, the mean is a helpful way to summarise a data set with a single number, but it's important to consider the context and whether outliers might be skewing the result.