What function can be used to calculate the mean of a variable?

The MEAN function is specifically designed to calculate the average value of a variable in a dataset. When you use this function, it sums up all the values of the specified variable and then divides that total by the count of non-missing values, effectively yielding the mean or average. This function is integral to data analysis within SAS because it provides a straightforward way to summarize numerical data.

The SUM function, while related to obtaining the total value of a variable, does not compute the average since it lacks the division by the count of values. The AVG function, although commonly used in other programming contexts, is not a keyword in SAS; hence it would not be functional within a SAS environment. The MEDIAN function calculates the median, which is a measure of central tendency that identifies the middle value when data is ordered, but it does not calculate the mean. Understanding the distinct purposes of these functions is key to performing accurate statistical analysis in SAS.