What is the difference between the highest and lowest numbers in a data set called?

What is the difference between the highest and lowest numbers in a data set called?

• A. Mean
• B. Range
• C. Standard Deviation
• D. Median

Answer: (B)

The difference between the highest and lowest numbers in a data set is called the range. It tells you how wide the spread of the data is by looking at the extreme values. For example, if the data set goes from 3 to 15, the range is 15 minus 3, which equals 12. The range is a simple way to describe spread, but it depends only on the endpoints and can be affected by outliers, so it doesn’t show how the values are distributed in between. This differs from the mean (the average value), the standard deviation (how far data typically deviate from the mean), and the median (the middle value when data are ordered).

The difference between the highest and lowest numbers in a data set is called the range. It tells you how wide the spread of the data is by looking at the extreme values. For example, if the data set goes from 3 to 15, the range is 15 minus 3, which equals 12. The range is a simple way to describe spread, but it depends only on the endpoints and can be affected by outliers, so it doesn’t show how the values are distributed in between. This differs from the mean (the average value), the standard deviation (how far data typically deviate from the mean), and the median (the middle value when data are ordered).