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Why would you use median instead of mean?

Updated: 4/28/2022
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14y ago

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You would use median instead of mean because the median doesn't find the average, it finds the middle value. Even if its not the middle of the range (the exact middle value between the lowest number and the highest number) it still is near to the middle value. The mean finds the average of all the numbers, like when a teacher average's her students' grades. Median is better to use when finding the middle value, not the average.

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Q: Why would you use median instead of mean?
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It depends on the particular set of numbers. Which is closest to the majority of the numbers.If all are random or completely Different numbers maybe the median?If they are really different, median is the best.If they are close to the same, the mode is better.There is no measurement better than the other, unless the data contains outliers.Mean is the most common, but if the data set contains outliers then consider using median or mode.In ADDITON:Which is better between mean, median and mode also depends on which type of data are we considering. There are basically 3 kinds of data:Nominal Data (qualitative data). For eg, marital status can be married, single, divorced or de facto.Ordinal data = the data are actually ranked, for eg Google is the number 1 search engine and yahoo is the no 2 search engine.Interval (numerical): for example: age, height, length, breadth etc.If we are looking at an interval(numerical) data, we can use any mean, median or mode. Mean is generally the best measure for statistical interference if there are no extreme values. When there are extreme values it is better to use median. Mode is very rarely used.If we are looking at nominal data, we cannot calculate mean. Like in the given example, marital status can be married, single, divorced or de facto. Now look at the following tableStatus FrequencyMarried 40Single 60Divorced 20De facto 10In this case we have to choose mode. The same is applicable for shoe size, waist size etc.If we are looking for an ordinal data, where data are ranked, the best measure of central tendency will be median.Apart from the type of data, nature of investigation in hand also affects which measure should be choose. In such cases, a personal judgment should be applied. An example is, if we are tying to compare how good a class did, in comparison with other classes, the best measure of central tendency would be mean. however, if we are looking inside a class and trying to compare how well we did in our class, median would be the best measure of central tendency. Unless the data is nominal, it is very rare that mode is the best measure of central tendency.

Related questions

When might you want to use the median to describe the center of a data set instead of then mean?

You would use the median if the data were very skewed, with extreme values.


Would you use mean median or mode to grade things?

MEAN


Who would use mean median and mode?

I use it in class when looking at my student's scores... Often I look at mean, median, and mode to decide to reteach a concept or not.


Why use a median instead of average?

The median is less effected by outliers or numbers far outside of the normal range than the mean. See related link.


When is it appropriate to use arithmetic mean as opposed to the median?

when is it appropriate to use arithmetic mean as opposed to median


What is the median if there is only 2 numbers showing?

Technically, you cannot find a median if you have only two numbers, so it would be more reasonable to use an average instead.


Would you use mean mode median to average the points?

mean is the average of numbers in the data set mode is the most frequently occurring value in a data set and median is the middle number of the data set so you would use mean


When would you use the mean rather than the median and the mode?

Mean is the average you add all the numbers and divide the total by the number of numbers that you added. you would use it rather thank median and mode basically when it asks you to find the mean or to find the average


What graph would be best to use mean median and mode?

a stem and leaf plot


Would you use the mean median or mode to most accurately reflect the typical number of pages read by a student?

Mean.


Which measure would best to use in determining how much money customers usually spend a. range b mode c. median d. mean?

The median.


When do you use median or mean?

you use it when a list of numbers acure