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Part 7:
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Statistical Calculations |
| Mean and Standard Deviation The most common statistic which is used when making comparisons between various sets of numbers is the mean. The mean of a set of numbers is the arithmetic average of those numbers, i.e. the total of the numbers divided by the number of numbers there are. But knowing just the average of a set of numbers is often not enough. We need to know how the numbers are spread out about the mean. In fact, the mean can often give a wrong impression about a set of data, and can be dragged out of its expected position by even one number which is much larger, or much smaller, than all the rest. |
