When is the median typically preferred over the mean?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking about the conditions under which the median is preferred as a measure of central tendency over the mean. This involves understanding how each measure responds to outliers and the distribution of data sets.
Answer
The median is preferred over the mean when the data are skewed or contain outliers.
The median is typically preferred over the mean when the data are skewed or contain outliers because the median does not get affected by extreme values, thus providing a better representation of the central tendency.
Answer for screen readers
The median is typically preferred over the mean when the data are skewed or contain outliers because the median does not get affected by extreme values, thus providing a better representation of the central tendency.
More Information
The median is often used when dealing with real-world data like income or property values, which can have significant outliers.
Tips
A common mistake is to use the mean in skewed data sets where outliers can significantly skew the average, making it unrepresentative.
Sources
- Mean vs Median Information Note - cso.ie
- When should I use mean vs median? - Quora - quora.com
- Mean, Mode and Median - Measures of Central Tendency - statistics.laerd.com
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