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Mean

Suppose there are n numbers whose mean is m. If one of the numbers changes from x to y then the mean changes to m + (y-x)/n

Another way to see this is to express the new mean as m - x/n + y/n: take the old mean, remove the contribution than was made by x and replace it with the contribution made by y.

Median

If n is odd, then a change in any number other than the (n+1)/2 th number in the ordered sequence will make no difference to the median.

If the (n+1)/2 th number changes, but still remains in the same position, then its new value will be the new median.

If the (n+1)/2 th number becomes larger than the next number, then that next number becomes the new median. Similarly, if it becomes smaller than the number before it then that number becomes the new median.

The situation is similar if there are an even number of values except that changes in either of the two middle numbers can affect the median.

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Q: How does a change in number affect the mean or median?
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Related questions

How would the outlier affect the mean and median of the data?

An outlier will pull the mean and median towards itself. The extent to which the mean is affected will depend on the number of observations as well as the magnitude of the outlier. The median will change by a half-step.


How does the outlier affect the mean median mode and range?

The outlier is capable of affecting mean median mode and range it affects mean because the average has changed if affects median because you have to cross out 1 more letter it doesn't affect mode it does affect range because an outlier is a number that i far away from the other numbers * * * * * It does not affect the median.


What would happen if the highest number were increased what would be the effect on the median and mean?

The median would not change, but the mean would increase.


How does the outlier affect the mean and median?

The mean is better than the median when there are outliers.


How does the outlier affect the mean median mode?

An outlier can increase or decrease the mean and median It usually doesn't affect the mode


When is the median more useful than the mean?

When the distribution has outliers. They will skew the mean but will not affect the median.


Why is calculating the mean average better than the median or mode?

well when answering the mean you take the average of all the numbers so it be approxiamently around the answers and each number can affect the mean in many ways while a median is when you put the numbers in order and you get the middle number, because it is a middle the number can be far away from the beginning number or ending number. Mode is when the numbers appear the most and when picking mode it can be a dramatic change from the numbers around it. That is why calculating the mean average is better than take the median and mode, but sometimes some problems work better dealing with mode or median.


How does outlier affect mean median mode?

An outlier pulls the mean towards it. It does not affect the median and only affects the mode if the mode is itself the outlier.


What is the definition of mean and median in math?

Mean is the average, and median is the middle number.


What does median mean in mathematical terms?

The median is the middle number


What are median of 9?

The mean, median, and mode of a single number is that same number. Note that terms such as "mean" and "median" are usually only interesting for a larger set of numbers.


Does the outlier affect the mean median and mode?

Yes, no, and no. The mean uses all numbers so it WILL be influenced by an outlier (sometimes heavily). The median is the middle number, so it can't be. The mode is the most frequent number, so it really can't be.