what is the center of the data? number of laps around a track the center is

Explanation:

Step1: Recall measure of center

Common measures of center are mean, median. For a dot - plot, we can find the median easily. First, count the total number of data points. There are 8 + 5+ 4+ 2+ 1=20 data points.

Step2: Find the median position

Since there are 20 data points (an even number of data points), the median is the average of the values at the $\frac{n}{2}$ and $\frac{n}{2}+ 1$ positions when the data is ordered. $\frac{20}{2}=10$ and $\frac{20}{2}+1 = 11$.

Step3: Determine the median

Counting the dots from the left, the 10th and 11th ordered data - points fall on the value 2. The average of 2 and 2 is 2.

Answer:

2