With which measure of central tendency does each value contribute equally to the calculation?

The measure of central tendency where each value contributes equally to the calculation is the mean.

Explanation:

1. Definition of Mean: The mean, often referred to as the average, is calculated by summing all values in a dataset and then dividing by the total number of values. This calculation gives equal weight to each individual data point.

2. Calculation of Mean:

   • Formula: $\text{Mean} = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_i}{n}$ where $x_i$ represents each value in the dataset, and $n$ is the total number of values.

3. Example:

   • Consider the dataset: $2, 4, 6$.
   • The mean would be calculated as: $\text{Mean} = \frac{2 + 4 + 6}{3} = \frac{12}{3} = 4$ In this case, each value contributes equally to the total sum that is averaged.

Conclusion:

Unlike the median and mode, which can be influenced by the distribution of the data (e.g., the median depends on the position of the middle value and the mode focuses on the most frequently occurring value), the mean takes all values into account with equal significance. Thus, the mean is the measure of central tendency where each value contributes equally.