A study in 5 villages reports the following malaria incidence rates per 1000 population: 12, 15, 18, 22, and 83. The MOST appropriate measure of central tendency to represent this data is:
- A Median ✓
- B Arithmetic mean
- C Mode
- D Geometric mean
Correct answer: A. Median
Explanation
The value 83 is an outlier that would strongly inflate the arithmetic mean (mean = 30), making it unrepresentative. The median (18) is the middle value when arranged in order and is resistant to outliers, making it the best measure of central tendency for this skewed distribution. Mode cannot be calculated when all values are different. Geometric mean is used for rates that span several orders of magnitude, not for this small dataset.
Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
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