Concept:
Mean deviation from mean:
\[
\text{MD} = \frac{1}{n} \sum |x_i - \bar{x}|
\]
Step 1: Find mean.
\[
\bar{x} = \frac{2+9+9+3+6+9+4}{7} = \frac{42}{7} = 6
\]
Step 2: Compute deviations.
\[
|2-6|=4,\ |9-6|=3,\ |9-6|=3,\ |3-6|=3,\ |6-6|=0,\ |9-6|=3,\ |4-6|=2
\]
Step 3: Sum deviations.
\[
4+3+3+3+0+3+2 = 18
\]
Step 4: Divide by total observations.
\[
\frac{18}{7} \approx 2.57
\]
Step 5: Final result.
\[
2.57
\]