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Basic Question 4 of 12

If one or more numbers in a data set are negative, which of the following is not always defined?

A. holding period return
B. harmonic mean
C. geometric mean
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User Contributed Comments 4

User Comment
ReaClute Ok, but the mode may also not be defined, and that could be true for a dataset of all positive numbers too - true? (The mode would not be defined, for instance, if there was only one incidence of each number in the dataset.)
tracy The question asked which one is not ALWAYS defined. A geometric mean cannot be computed in this case but the mode may be, right? So C is the correct answer.
Ioannis A single mode would not be defined, but multiple ones would, i.e. the distribution would be multimodal.
tschorsch "not always defined" is NOT "never defined"

it means "sometimes defined"

C is the answer because sometimes you cannot calculate the root of a negative number resulting in real number value
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Learning Outcome Statements

calculate and interpret different approaches to return measurement over time and describe their appropriate uses;

CFA® 2025 Level I Curriculum, Volume 1, Module 1.