Averages
To draw conclusions from data, it is useful to calculate averages.
An average indicates the typical value of a set of data and the main types are:
- mean
- median
- mode
You can also get more information from your data by giving a measure of central tendency and a measure of spread.
Determining averages
The different types of average are all worked out differently. This means that for any set of data, the mean, median and mode may all have different values.
We'll use the following example to show how each is worked out.
Example
As part of a school project, Kieran is asked to write down the number of tracks on each of his albums. His results are as follows:
\(10, 14, 10, 12, 11, 10, 11, 12, 10, 11, 9, 12\)
He is then asked to work out the mean, median and mode.
