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A shoe shop owner wants to decide which size to stock in the largest quantity. Which average of last year's sales should he look at, and why?

Competition practiceData & Probability
  • AThe mode, because it names the size that was asked for most often
  • BThe mean, because it uses every sale in the record
  • CThe median, because it is not disturbed by unusually large sizes
  • DThe range, because it shows how widely the sizes vary

Step-by-Step Solution

The owner needs the size the greatest number of customers ask for, and that is exactly what the mode reports. A mean shoe size could come out as something like 7.4, which is not a size he can stock at all; the median gives the middle size rather than the most popular one, and could easily be a size that hardly anyone buys; and the range only tells him the smallest and largest sizes he must carry, saying nothing about how many of each to order.
Answer: A) The mode, because it names the size that was asked for most often

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