An educational psychologist measures the time taken (in minutes) by a group of students to complete a reading comprehension task. The analysis of the completion times reveals a mean of 28.5 minutes, a median of 22.0 minutes, and a mode of 18.5 minutes.
Which of the following correctly describes the distribution shape of these data and identifies the most appropriate measure of central tendency to represent the typical completion time?
The distribution is negatively skewed; the mean should be used because it includes every score in the dataset.
The distribution is positively skewed; the median should be used because it is not distorted by extreme outliers.
The distribution is negatively skewed; the median should be used because it represents the exact middle value of the dataset.
The distribution is positively skewed; the mean should be used because it is the most sensitive and powerful statistical measure.
513 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Psychology Data recording, analysis and presentation. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.