Answer:
D. The faculty should use the median to make their argument. The median will be lower than the mean since the mean is influenced by the few extremely high salaries.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mean is the average of any data set whereas the median is the middle value we get after arranging the data in ascending order.
So for example, if the salaries of any 5 faculty members are as follows:
$10,000 , $50,000 , $80,000 , $150,000 , $160,000
The MEAN would be: ∑x/N
where N is the total number of faculty and ∑x is the sum of all the salaries of the five faculty members
Mean= (10,000+50,000+80,000+150,000+160,000) / 5
Mean= 450,000 / 5
Mean= $90,000
The MEDIAN will be the value at (N+1)/2 place
where N is the total number of faculty
Median= (5+1) / 2
Median= 6/2
Median= 3rd value
As the data is already arranged in ascending order, Median is $80,000
Hence, if the faculty want to give the community the impression that they deserve higher salaries, they should advertise the median of their current salaries because as it is seen in the example above the median will be lower than the mean since the mean is influenced by the few extremely high salaries.