A researcher measures eye color for a sample of n = 50 people. Which measure of central tendency would be appropriate to summarize the measurements?
a. mean
b. median
c. mode
d. any of the three measures could be used
Without further data, I would say mode. Eye color would only be a nominal scale.
http://drdavespsychologypage.homestead.com/Two___Two_____four.pdf
mode
Mean, median, and mode
mean
To determine which measure of central tendency is appropriate to summarize the measurements of eye color for a sample of 50 people, we need to understand what each measure represents and consider the nature of the data.
The mean is the arithmetic average of the measurements and is calculated by summing all the measurements and dividing by the sample size. It provides a measure of the typical value of the data.
The median is the middle value when the measurements are arranged in order. It is useful when there are extreme values or if the data is skewed. The median is less affected by outliers and extreme values than the mean.
The mode is the value that occurs most frequently in the dataset. It is suitable for nominal or categorical data and can be used to find the most common eye color in this case.
Considering that eye color is typically treated as a categorical variable, with options like blue, brown, green, etc., the most appropriate measure of central tendency in this case would be the mode (c) because it identifies the eye color that occurs most frequently among the sample of 50 people.
Therefore, the answer is c. mode.