Let's calculate the sample mean, median, and mode(s) for the given data:

Data:
25.8, 25.4, 25.1, 25.2, 24.9, 24.8, 24.9, 24.8, 23.8, 23.3

1. Sample Mean:

The formula for the sample mean is: $\text{Mean} = \frac{\sum \text{Data}}{n}$ Where $\sum \text{Data}$ is the sum of the data points and $n$ is the number of data points.

Sum of the data: $25.8 + 25.4 + 25.1 + 25.2 + 24.9 + 24.8 + 24.9 + 24.8 + 23.8 + 23.3 = 248.2$ Number of data points: $n = 10$ Thus, the mean is: $\text{Mean} = \frac{248.2}{10} = 24.82$

2. Median:

The median is the middle value when the data is sorted in ascending order. If the data has an even number of values, the median is the average of the two middle numbers.

Sorted data: $23.3, 23.8, 24.8, 24.8, 24.9, 24.9, 25.1, 25.2, 25.4, 25.8$

Since there are 10 data points (even), the median is the average of the 5th and 6th values: $\text{Median} = \frac{24.9 + 24.9}{2} = 24.9$

3. Mode(s):

The mode is the value that appears most frequently. In this case:

• 24.8 appears twice
• 24.9 appears twice

Thus, the modes are: $\text{Mode(s)} = 24.8, 24.9$

Summary:

• Mean: 24.82
• Median: 24.9
• Mode(s): 24.8, 24.9

Interpretation:

Over the 10-business-day period sampled, the price of silver averaged $24.82 per ounce.

• The price was above $24.82 as many times as it was below that price.
• The price stood at $24.9 per ounce more often than at any other price (it occurred twice).

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Would you like more details on how to interpret this data, or do you have any further questions?
Here are some related questions you might find interesting:

1. How would the median change if the data set had an odd number of observations?
2. What does it mean for a data set to have more than one mode?
3. How does the mean differ from the median in this particular data set?
4. Why is it important to calculate both the mean and median when analyzing a set of data?
5. How might the mode be helpful in understanding price trends over time?

Tip: The mode can be particularly useful when you want to understand the most frequently occurring value in a data set, especially in cases where there might be multiple common values.