What are three ways to describe central tendency?

• A. Mode, median, mean
• B. Variance, standard deviation, and standard error
• C. Range, interquartile range, percentiles
• D. Skewness, kurtosis, entropy

Answer: (A)

Describing central tendency means identifying a typical or central value around which data cluster. The three standard measures of central tendency are the mode, the median, and the mean. The mode is the most frequently occurring value and can be useful for categorical data or for distributions with multiple peaks. The median is the middle value when the data are ordered, which makes it robust to outliers and a good summary for skewed distributions. The mean is the arithmetic average, capturing the balance point of the data and is most informative for roughly symmetric distributions without extreme outliers. Together, they cover different ways to summarize the center of a distribution.

The other options describe aspects other than central tendency: variance, standard deviation, and standard error describe how spread out the data are around the center; the range, interquartile range, and percentiles describe spread and position within the distribution rather than a single central value; and skewness, kurtosis describe the shape of the distribution, with entropy measuring overall uncertainty.