Inappropriate Use of Mean

D

The answer to the question what is your marital status is usually yes or no, or some other status - divorced, widow etc. So we cannot take an average of non- ordinal observations.

The mean is a commonly used measure of central tendency that represents the average value of a set of data. However, there are certain situations where the mean may not be an appropriate measure to use. Let's analyze each option:

A. Incomes of lawyers: The mean can be a suitable measure for incomes of lawyers. It provides the average income level and is commonly used in statistical analysis.

B. Number of pages in textbooks on statistics: The mean can be used to represent the average number of pages in textbooks on statistics. While there may be variations in the number of pages across different textbooks, the mean can still provide a reasonable estimate of the typical number of pages.

C. Ages of adults at a senior citizen center: The mean can be a reasonable measure for ages of adults at a senior citizen center. It provides an estimate of the average age of the individuals in the center.

D. Marital status of college students at a particular university: The mean is not an appropriate measure for marital status because it is a categorical variable, not a continuous variable. The mean requires numerical data, and marital status is a qualitative variable that cannot be meaningfully averaged.

E. None of these answers: The correct answer is D. Marital status of college students at a particular university. As explained above, the mean cannot be applied to categorical variables like marital status, making it an inappropriate measure for this situation.

In summary, the mean is inappropriate for measuring the central tendency of categorical variables like marital status (option D), but it can be used for the other types of data mentioned in options A, B, and C.