Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
In statistics, the arithmetic mean (commonly referred to as the average) is a measure of central tendency used to represent the central value of a finite set of numbers.
Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
The arithmetic mean \( \bar{x} \) of a dataset containing \( n \) observations \( \{x_1, x_2, \dots, x_n\} \) is calculated using the formula:
\[ \bar{x} = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_i}{n} \]
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
- Option (A) describes the Mode (the most frequent value).
- Option (B) describes the Median (the middle value of an ordered dataset).
- Option (C) describes the Arithmetic Mean (sum of all observations divided by the total count of observations).
- Option (D) describes the Range (the difference between the maximum and minimum values in the dataset).
Step 4: Final Answer
The mean is calculated by dividing the sum of all values in a dataset by the total number of values.