Which measure of central tendency can be affected most by extreme values?

The mean is the measure of central tendency that can be most significantly affected by extreme values, often referred to as outliers. The mean is calculated by adding all the values in a data set and then dividing by the number of values. When outlier values are present—whether they are much larger or smaller than the rest of the data—they can skew the overall average considerably. For instance, if the majority of a data set consists of values around 10, but there is one extreme value of 100, the mean will rise significantly, giving a distorted sense of the central tendency of the data.

In contrast, the median, which is the middle value of a data set when it is ordered, remains unaffected by extreme values. Similarly, the mode, which is the value that appears most frequently in a data set, does not change unless the outlier exists in such a frequency that it alters the most common value. The range, while related to variability, measures the difference between the maximum and minimum values rather than a central tendency, so it's not directly comparable to measures like the mean, median, and mode in the context of central tendency affected by extreme values. Thus, the mean is understood as the most sensitive measure of central tendency in the presence