The suitability of a measure of centre
We can use the mean, median or mode to describe the centre of a data set. Sometimes one measure may better represent the data than another and sometimes we want just one statistic for an article or report rather than detail on the different measures. When deciding which to use we need to ask ourselves which measure would best represent the type of data we have. Some main considerations are:
- Is there a repeated value? If there are no repeated values or only a couple of randomly repeated values, then the mode will not be representative of the data. If there is one or two highly frequent data points these may be a fair representation of the centre of the data.
- Is there an outlier? As we have seen an outlier will significantly affect the mean–this may give a distorted view of the centre of the data. For example, if we had a list of houses sold in an area and a historic mansion was sold for a price well above the other houses in the area, then using the median would be a better representation of average house prices in the area than the mean.
- Do you need all the data values to be taken into account? Only the mean uses all the values in its calculation.
Practice questions
Question 1
The salaries of part-time employees at a company are given in the dot plot below. Which measure of centre best reflects the typical wage of a part-time employee?
The mean.
AThe mode.
BThe median.
C
Question 2
A journalist wanted to report on road speed cameras being used as revenue raisers. She obtained data that showed the number of times $20$20 speed cameras issued a fine to motorists in one month. The results were:
$101,102,115,115,121,124,127,128,130,130,143,143,146,162,162,163,178,183,194,977$101,102,115,115,121,124,127,128,130,130,143,143,146,162,162,163,178,183,194,977
Determine the mean number of times a speed camera issued a fine in that month. Give your answer correct to one decimal place.
Determine the median number of times a speed camera issued a fine in that month. Give your answer correct to one decimal place.
Which measure is most representative of the number of fines issued by each speed camera in one month?
the mean
Athe median
BWhich score causes the mean to be much greater than the median?
The journalist wants to give the impression that speed cameras are just being used to raise revenue. Which statement should she make?
A sample of $20$20 speed cameras found that the median number of fines in one month was $136.5$136.5.
AA sample of $20$20 speed cameras found that, on average, $182.2$182.2 fines were issued in one month.
B