Section 1.3 Summary

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A numerical summary of a distribution should report its center and its spread or variability.

The mean and the median M describe the center of a distribution in different ways. The mean is the arithmetic average of the observations, and the median is their midpoint.

When you use the median to describe the center of a distribution, describe its spread by giving the quartiles. The first quartile Q1 has one-fourth of the observations below it, and the third quartile Q3 has three-fourths of the observations below it.