Question

what is the mean absolute deviation of the numbers: 1 2 3 4 and 5?

Answer 1

1) Find mean of all data values : 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15 / Number of data values = 15 / 5 = 3

Thus, mean of data set is 3 

2) Calculate absolute distance of data values from mean : | data value -mean|

| 1 - 3 | = 2

| 2 - 3 | = 1

| 3 - 3 | = 0

| 4 - 3 | = 1

| 5 - 3 | = 2

3) Find the sum of absolute mean distance of data values = 1+2+0+1+2 = 6

4) Divide it by number of data values = 6 / 5 = 1.2

The absolute mean difference is 1.2