Between mean and median, which is a better measure of central tendency to use when outliers are present?

Question

Explain the reasons for your choice

Answer 1

Outliers can skew the data when calculating the mean. Median would be closer to the center of the set of data.

For instance, say you have a data set with the numbers 2, 64, 73, 75, 75, 80, 80, 87, 94. The mean would come out to be 70, however when you look at the data, you can see that 70 is closer to the lower end of the set because the outlier (2) has skewed the mean. If you were to get rid of the outlier and solve for the mean, you would get about 78. This is closer to the median of the set, which is 75, so median would give you a more accurate measure.