Final answer:
The measures of central tendency, which include mode, median, and mean, are used to study the pattern of distribution in a dataset.
Step-by-step explanation:
The averages used to study the pattern of distribution are called measures of central tendency. There are three commonly used measures of central tendency: mode, median, and mean. The mode is the value that appears most frequently in a dataset, the median is the middle value when the data is arranged in ascending or descending order, and the mean is the arithmetic average of all the data points. These measures provide an overall summary of what a typical response looks like and help researchers analyze and interpret data.