When to Use the Mean,

Median, and Mode

 Mean, Median, and Mode
• Sometimes you get
very similar results
with all three.
• Like when you have a
normal distribution.
 Mean
• Usually the mean is preferred:
– It uses all the scores (so it’s representative of
the entire data set).
– It’s used to compute the variance and SD.
– It’s good for inferential statistics.
– Note that you should have interval or ratio data
to compute a mean.
 Median
• Use the median when
you have extreme
scores or a skewed
distribution.
 Median
• Use the median when you have extreme scores or
a skewed distribution.
• EXAMPLE:
• X = 10, 11, 11, 11, 11, 12, 12, 13, 13, 100
• M = 20.3
• Median = 11.5
• Median represents most of the distribution best.
 Median
• In psychology, you Number of Frequency
might encounter an Children
open-ended 5 or more 3
distribution like this:
4 2
• N = 20
• Cannot compute a 3 2
mean. 2 3
• Median = 1.5 1 6
• Use the median! 0 4
 Median
• Use the median if you have ordinal data.
• Remember, the mean balances distance.
• With ordinal data you don’t have equal distances
between data points.
 Mode
• Use the mode
Hair color Frequency
if you have
nominal data. 4 2
• EXAMPLE: 3 4
• Hair color: 2 5
– 1= brown
–
1 7
2 = black
– 3 = blond
– 4 = red N = 18
 Mode
• If you have a discrete variable like number
of children, you can compute a mean.
• In this case, means are fractional values that
can’t really exist. EXAMPLE: “The
average family has 2.5 kids.”
• The mode identifies the typical case:
– “The typical family has 2 kids.”
– “The modal age for spinal cord injury is 19.”