Mean Versus Media

For this discussion activity, you will use an applet. It deals with the mean and median of a numerical data set.

Mean= The mean of a collection of data is the arithmetic average or the balancing point of a distribution of data.

Median= The median of a sample of data is the value that is in the middle from the smallest to the largest. The median cuts a distribution in half.

Run Applet

In thisMean vs. Medianapplet activity, you will use the link below. The applet allows you to create data sets and look at the impact on the mean and median of adding additional data points to the data set.

Navigate to theMean vs. Median

(Links to an external site.)

Links to an external site.

applet and follow these instructions:

1. First, reset the lower limit on the x-axis to zero and the upper limit to 1000, by
2. a. Selecting the "Add point" button and enter a value of 0 in the input box, then select "OK".
3. b. Repeat the above step to add the value 1000.
4. Remove the data points for 0 and 1000 by selecting the "Reset" button. Notice the lower and upper limits on the x-axis stay at 0 and 1000. Just the two data points are removed.
5. Now put 6 points between 0 and 200 on the line. (You do that by selecting the line at the place where you want to add the point.) Or, you can select the "Add point" button for each point you want to enter.
6. Record the mean and median for the six data points.
7. Add one more point close to 1000 then record the mean and median for the seven data points.

One variable that might have data that looks like this would be the selling price of houses (in thousands of dollars) in a particular neighborhood. The seventh point would be anoutlier- an unusual value in the data set - representing a house that sold for close to $1,000,000.

Post

1. List the mean and median for the first six data points you entered.
2. List the mean and median after you added the seventh data point.
3. What impact does the outlier have on the mean and on the median?
4. Suppose the data points represent the selling prices of houses. After adding the seventh data point, would the mean or the median be the better measure of central tendency to use to report the "typical" selling price of a house in this neighborhood? Explain your answer.
5. Suggest another variable that might have data like this (many values between 0 and 200, one/few close to 1000). Does that change your choice of measure for the "typical" value?