The mean and standard deviation of observations are and , respectively. By mistake one observation is taken as instead of . If the correct mean and the correct standard deviation are and respectively, then is equal to:
- A
- B
- C
- D
The mean and standard deviation of observations are and , respectively. By mistake one observation is taken as instead of . If the correct mean and the correct standard deviation are and respectively, then is equal to:
Correct answer:D
Standard Method
Given: The mean of observations is and the standard deviation is . One observation was taken as instead of .
Find: The value of , where and are the correct mean and standard deviation.
First compute the incorrect sum:
Since was used instead of , the correct sum is
Therefore, the correct mean is
Now use the variance relation for the incorrect data:
So,
Correct the sum of squares by replacing with :
Hence,
Therefore,
Now,
Therefore, the correct option is D.
Using corrected mean and variance
Given: Incorrect mean , incorrect standard deviation , number of observations .
Find: The corrected value of .
From the mean,
The incorrect variance is
Thus,
After correction,
So,
Finally,
Therefore, the required value is and the correct option is D.
Using the incorrect sum as the correct sum is wrong because one observation was recorded as instead of . Correct the total first by subtracting and adding .
Correcting the mean but not correcting is wrong because the variance depends on squares of observations. Replace by in the sum of squares.
Using the incorrect mean while computing the corrected variance is wrong because variance must be calculated with the corrected mean . Always use the corrected mean after fixing the data.
Get unlimited AI-adaptive practice, mastery tracking, and an AI tutor that explains every step — free to start.