Shortcomings Of Central Tendency
The mean, median, and mode are frequently referred to as the measures of central tendency. All three of these are used commonly, especially by the media when trying to make a point or persuade an audience to some point of view. However, each of these three statistical measures has their own shortcomings.
For your own original contribution to this Discussion Board, complete the following:
Research the shortcomings of measures of central tendency. Summarize your findings and cite your sources.
Find an example where a mean, median, or mode was used by the media or a company to make a specific point. Evaluate this use and then share your evaluation with the class. Be sure to specifically discuss any caveats or risks associated with the way the organization in your example used their central tendency metric.
Discuss if you think the right measure was used. Share a recommendation for a better measure if you think there is one.
Sample Answer
Shortcomings of Measures of Central Tendency
Measures of central tendency, such as the mean, median, and mode, are frequently used to summarize a set of data by providing a single value that represents the “typical” or “middle” of the data. However, each of these measures has its own shortcomings that can affect their interpretation and use.
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Mean: The mean is the most widely used measure of central tendency, but it is sensitive to outliers, which are data points that are significantly different from the rest of the data. Outliers can pull the mean away from the true center of the distribution, making it an inaccurate representation of the typical value.
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Median: The median is less sensitive to outliers than the mean, but it does not use all the information in the data. The median simply identifies the middle value in the data when arranged from smallest to largest. This means that it ignores the values of all the data points that fall below or above the median.