What value represents the average of a given set of numbers?

The average of a given set of numbers is defined as the mean. To calculate the mean, you add all the numbers in the set together and then divide that sum by the total number of values in the set. This gives you a value that represents the central tendency of the data, providing a straightforward summary of the entire dataset.

The median, on the other hand, is the middle value when the numbers are arranged in ascending or descending order and does not necessarily represent the average, especially in skewed distributions. The range measures the difference between the highest and lowest values in the dataset, which gives information on the spread of the data rather than its center. Standard deviation quantifies the amount of variation or dispersion in a set of values, again focusing on how the numbers are spread out rather than on the calculation of an average. Each of these alternatives provides different insights into the dataset but does not fulfill the definition of the average as effectively as the mean does.