Chapter 15.3, Problem 14P

For each of the following situations, decide whether the mean or the median would likely give a better sense of what is typical or representative of the data for the purpose that is described. Discuss your reasoning in each case.
a. The starting salaries of a class of college graduates in which one of the graduates is drafted by the National Football League. Prospective students would like a sense of the starting salary they might expect when they get a job after they graduate.
b. The net weights of one type and size of boxes of laundry detergent produced at a factory over the course of a year. Government regulators would like to know if consumers who use the laundry detergent on a regular basis are getting the amount of detergent they have paid for in the long run.
c. The number of turtle eggs in nests along a beach. Researchers estimate that 80% of all the turtle eggs will hatch and they want to estimate how many baby turtles there will be.