Sophie did an anonymous survey and collected her friends' credit scores. The scores she found are listed in the table below. What is the mean credit score in this group? (Round to the nearest whole point, if applicable.)
| 682 | 601 | 744 | 674 | 701 | 790 | 676 | 638 | 773 |
A. 698
B. 695
C. 676
D. 701
Answer (1)
Sum the credit scores: 682 + 601 + 744 + 674 + 701 + 790 + 676 + 638 + 773 = 6279 .
Count the number of scores: There are 9 scores.
Divide the sum by the number of scores to find the mean: 9 6279 = 697.6666... .
Round the mean to the nearest whole number: The mean credit score is 698 .
Explanation
Understanding the Problem We are given a set of credit scores and asked to find the mean credit score. The mean is calculated by summing all the scores and dividing by the number of scores. We need to round the result to the nearest whole number.
Summing the Scores First, let's calculate the sum of the credit scores: 682 + 601 + 744 + 674 + 701 + 790 + 676 + 638 + 773 = 6279
Counting the Scores Next, we count the number of credit scores. There are 9 scores.
Calculating the Mean Now, we divide the sum of the scores by the number of scores to find the mean: 9 6279 = 697.6666...
Rounding the Mean Finally, we round the mean to the nearest whole number: 697.6666... ≈ 698
Final Answer Therefore, the mean credit score is 698.
Examples
Understanding mean values is crucial in many real-life scenarios. For instance, if you're tracking your monthly expenses, calculating the mean expense can help you budget effectively. Similarly, in sports, a player's batting average (mean number of successful hits) provides a quick overview of their performance. In finance, the average return on investment helps investors assess the profitability of their portfolios. These examples illustrate how the concept of the mean simplifies complex data into a single, easily understandable number, aiding in decision-making and analysis.
