Students reported practicing violin during the last semester for 45, 38, 52, 58, and 42 hours. What is the mean absolute deviation for the number of hours students practiced the violin? Round to the nearest tenth.

First find the mean: (45 + 38 + 52 + 58 + 42) ÷ 5 = 47 hours. The absolute deviations from 47 are 2, 9, 5, 11, and 5 hours. Their mean is (2 + 9 + 5 + 11 + 5) ÷ 5 = 6.4 hours, so the mean absolute deviation is 6.4, choice A.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.