What is the range in the context of a set of values?

In statistical terms, the range is a measure of the spread or dispersion of a set of values. Specifically, it is calculated by subtracting the smallest value in the set from the largest value. This calculation provides a simple way to understand how much variability exists within the dataset.

For instance, if you have a set of values such as 2, 5, 7, and 10, the range would be determined by taking the highest value (10) and subtracting the lowest value (2), resulting in a range of 8. This allows you to see the distance between the extreme values in the dataset, giving insights into its distribution.

The other choices represent different statistical concepts but do not reflect the definition of range accurately. The average value refers to the mean, the middle value refers to the median, and the most frequently occurring value is known as the mode. Each of these measures provides different insights into the data, but they do not capture the concept of range, which specifically deals with the extremes of the values.