What does the term “mean” refer to in statistics?

The term “mean” in statistics primarily refers to the average of a set of numbers. To calculate the mean, you add together all the values in the dataset and then divide that sum by the number of values. This concept represents a central value around which the data tends to cluster, providing a useful measure of central tendency. It is widely used in various fields to analyze data and derive meaningful insights, making it essential to understand when discussing statistics.

In contrast, the term for the most frequent value in a dataset is known as the mode. The middle value of a sorted dataset refers to the median, which is distinct from the mean, as it specifically looks at the position of numbers rather than their values. Lastly, the range is a measure of dispersion that indicates the difference between the highest and lowest values in the dataset, which does not provide information about the central tendency of the data like the mean does. Understanding these distinctions helps clarify why the mean is specifically associated with the average of numbers.