What is defined as a value that deviates significantly from the main distribution of values?

The term that describes a value that deviates significantly from the main distribution of values is outliers. Outliers are observations that fall far away from the overall pattern of data, often located in the tails of the distribution. They can arise from variability in the data, measurement errors, or other external factors that do not fit within the general trend of the dataset.

Identifying outliers is crucial in data analysis because they can significantly influence statistical measures, such as the mean and standard deviation, leading to potential misinterpretation of the data. In many data analyses, outliers may be investigated further to determine their cause and whether they should be included or excluded from analysis, as they provide insight into data quality and underlying processes.

The other options, such as average, median, and standard deviation, relate to central tendency and dispersion measures rather than representing deviations from the norm. While the average and median describe typical values around which data might cluster, and standard deviation measures the spread or dispersion of data points, they do not specifically refer to extreme values or deviations like outliers do.