MEAN vs. MEDIAN

MEAN vs. MEDIAN

Mean & Median is one of the most innate parts of statistical mathematics. The branch deals with assembly & analysis of data in different and diverse ways for intended calculation. Mean along with median serve these purposes distinctly.

What is Mean & Median?

Mean is stated as an average of some numbers. In simple terms, the mean is the most probable result of the combination of given data. Median states the middle-most data set sorted in specific ways with an equal number of higher and smaller numbers or data.

One of the significant differences between mean vs. median is outliers; it has no impact on the median but may have a considerable effect on the mean number. When calculating the mean, each of the numbers affects the final number whereas outliers will have a minimum or no impact on the final numbers

How To Calculate Mean?

Steps required to calculate the Mean

Step 1: Add all the quantities to get a total number

Step 2: Count the number in a series

Step 3: Now, divide the total found in Step 1 by the number of Step 2.

You will be able to find the mean of quantities and numbers by following the above steps.

In Microsoft Excel, you can also use the formula =AVERAGE(N1, N2, N3……)

Three kinds of Mean explained below:

  • Arithmetic Mean: – It is calculated as the sum of the terms divided by the number of terms.
    • For a, b, c being terms and n, i.e., the number of terms being three

Arithmetic mean given as  (a+b+c)/3

  • Geometric Mean: – It is calculated as the product of terms with the power of inverse of the number of terms.
    • For a, b, c being terms and n i.e., number of terms being three

Geometric mean is given as ∛(a x b x c)

  • Harmonic Mean: – It is calculated as the number of terms divided by the summation of inverse the of each term.
    • For a, b, c being terms and n i.e., number of terms being three

Harmonic mean defined as  3/(1/a+1/b+1/c)

How To Calculate Median?

The following steps will guide you to find the median of the number series.

Step 1: Arrange the numbers in descending to ascending order.

Step 2: Count the number of units in a series.

Step 3: Check if the number in Step 2 is Even or Odd

Step 4: If the Step -3 is Even, take the two digits in the center and find the average and if it is Odd, then take the middle number as the Median

For example, the series of numbers is 91, 94, 93, 89, 95, 88, 97, 87, and 100.

Step-1: 87,88, 89, 91, 93, 94,95,97, 100

Step -2: Total units in the series is 9

Step-3: Odd

Step-4: Center of the series is 5th number, median  is 93

In Microsoft Excel, you can also use the formula =MEDIAN(N1, N2, N3……)

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