How do the different measures of center compare?

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posciad48o · Accepted Answer

There are three main center measures.The mean or average is calculated from the sum of all values divided by the number of cases. It gives - as the word says - an idea of the average. Disadvantage is, that it is susceptible to extreme values. Example: Average income of a group of 1000 people is 500 a week. Add a person who gets 100000 a week and see what happens to the average.50000/1000=500600001001≈599The mode is the value or class value that happens most. It is the &#039;bump&#039; in your frequency distribution. You have a problem if there are more bumps.The median is the value, of which half the population has a lower value, and half a higher. It is the value of &#039;the middle man&#039; if you order your cases by value. Greatest advantage of using median, is that it is hardly susceptible to extremes. You might try the above example with the median.In a perfect, or allmost perfect, normal distribution, these three are the same.

How do the different measures of center compare?

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