What is meant by the term "mean value" in statistics?

The term "mean value" in statistics refers specifically to the average value of a dataset. It is calculated by summing all the values in a dataset and then dividing by the number of values in that dataset. This measure provides a central point or a typical value around which other data points tend to cluster, making it an important statistic for understanding the overall characteristics of the data.

In contrast, the median represents the middle value when the dataset is arranged in ascending or descending order, while the mode is the value that appears most frequently in the dataset. The range indicates the difference between the highest and lowest values in the dataset. Each of these terms represents a different statistical measure, further solidifying why the mean, or average, is the correct interpretation of "mean value."