Homework Soursethis question is from class of BSN nursing REQUIERED 200 WOR
this question is from class of BSN nursing. REQUIERED 200 WORDS,PLEASE PROVIDE WITH REFERENCE
What are the characteristics of a population for which it would be appropriate to use mean/median/mode? When would the characteristics of a population make them inappropriate to use?
Solution
When data is grouped in such a way that it contains open end classes,in that case,we can not compute mean,but median or mode can be computed.
Another time when we usually prefer the median over the mean (or mode) is when our data is skewed (i.e., the frequency distribution for our data is skewed). If we consider the normal distribution - as this is the most frequently assessed in statistics - when the data is perfectly normal, the mean, median and mode are identical. Moreover, they all represent the most typical value in the data set. However, as the data becomes skewed the mean loses its ability to provide the best central location for the data because the skewed data is dragging it away from the typical value. However, the median best retains this position and is not as strongly influenced by the skewed values. This is explained in more detail in the skewed distribution section later in this guide.
| Average | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Mean | All the data is used to find the answer | Very large or very small numbers can distort the answer |
| Median | Very big and very small values don\'t affect it | Takes a long time to calculate for a very large set of data |
| Mode or modal class | The only average we can use when the data is not numerical |
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