Answer: 1840.58

The sample mean is calculated using the formula: $$\hat{\mu} = \bar{X} = \frac{1}{n} \sum_{i=1}^{n} X_i$$ Summing all the monthly profits: 1576 + 1595 + 1754 + 1464 + 1850 + 1698 + 1614 + 1524 + 4320 + 1650 + 1440 + 1602 = 22087 Dividing by the number of months (12): $$\bar{X} = \frac{22087}{12} = 1840.5833$$ This rounds to 1840.58, which corresponds to option A. Note that the value 4320 is significantly higher than the other monthly profits, which pulls the mean upward. This demonstrates how outliers can affect the mean.

Author: Nikitesh Somanthe