Firefighter Practice Exam

What type of problem-solving method is used when determining an average score from multiple tests?

1. Addition and division of total scores

2. Subtraction of the lowest score

3. Finding the median score

4. Calculating the mode of the scores

The correct answer is: Addition and division of total scores

Determining an average score involves adding together all the individual scores and then dividing that total by the number of tests taken. This method gives you the mean average, which is a standard way to summarize a set of data. For example, if you had scores of 80, 90, and 70 from three tests, you would first add these scores together to get a total of 240. Then, dividing by 3 (the number of tests) would yield an average score of 80. This approach is fundamental in statistics and widely applicable in various contexts where understanding a central tendency, such as test scores, is necessary. The other methods mentioned do not provide a means of calculating an average score. Subtracting the lowest score would adjust the data set but not yield an average. Finding the median involves sorting the scores and identifying the middle value or average of the two middle scores, while calculating the mode identifies the most frequently occurring score within the set. These methods serve different purposes and do not produce the mean average specifically.