What is a good graph?
The graph should fill the space allotted for the graph. The graph should be as large as the paper will allow. In order to do this, the graph must be properly scaled. The scale for each axis of the graph should always begin at zero. Each square on a given axis must represent the same amount.
How graphs can be manipulated?
Omitting the baseline. Omitting baselines, or the axis of a graph, is one of the most common ways data is manipulated in graphs. This misleading tactic is frequently used to make one group look better than another. Truncating graphs can make something that is not very significant look like a massive difference.
How statistics can be misleading examples?
The data can be misleading due to the sampling method used to obtain data. For instance, the size and the type of sample used in any statistics play a significant role — many polls and questionnaires target certain audiences that provide specific answers, resulting in small and biased sample sizes.
Can statistics be misused explain with two examples?
Answer: Statistics, when used in a misleading fashion, can trick the casual observer into believing something other than what the data shows. The false statistics trap can be quite damaging for the quest for knowledge. For example, in medical science, correcting a falsehood may take decades and cost lives.
Can statistics be manipulated?
There are several undeniable truths about statistics: First and foremost, they can be manipulated, massaged and misstated. Second, if bogus statistical information is repeated often enough, it eventually is considered to be true.
How averages can be misleading?
Averages are misleading when used to compare different groups, apply group behavior to an individual scenario, or when there are numerous outliers in the data. The root causes of these problems appear to be over-simplification and rationalizations — what people want to believe.
Can Mean be misleading?
The mean treatment outcome (or average) is often reported in comparing the results of different groups in a clinical trial. However, sometimes the average result can be misleading. The mean may be misleading because of uneven spread in the results or uncertainty about whether patients had an important improvement.
Why averaging is bad?
But whenever an average is used to represent an uncertain quantity, it ends up distorting the results because it ignores the impact of the inevitable variations. Averages routinely gum up accounting, investments, sales, production planning, even weather forecasting.
How can the median be misleading?
But the median can also mislead us if the types of properties sold change. For example, if more properties are sold at the low price end of the market, they will pull the median price down with them and if more sales take place at the high end they will take the median along for the ride.
Why would you use the median instead of the mean?
The mean is being skewed by the two large salaries. Therefore, in this situation, we would like to have a better measure of central tendency. 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).
Why is median not mean?
The median refers to the most central value in a list of numbers. While simple to explain, the median is harder to compute than the mean. This is because in order to find the median, it is necessary to sort the numbers in the list.
What is the difference between median mean and average?
The “mean” is the “average” you’re used to, where you add up all the numbers and then divide by the number of numbers. The “median” is the “middle” value in the list of numbers.
What is another word for median in math?
Some common synonyms of median are average, mean, and norm. While all these words mean “something that represents a middle point,” median applies to the value that represents the point at which there are as many instances above as there are below.
Is there any difference between mean and average?
Average can simply be defined as the sum of all the numbers divided by the total number of values. A mean is defined as the mathematical average of the set of two or more data values.
Can Median be called average?
What is the median? The median is another form of an average. It usually represents the middle number in a given sequence of numbers when it’s ordered by rank.
What does it mean when the mean and median are far apart?
A good test: calculate the average and the median for a group of values. If they’re close, then the group is probably normally distributed (the familiar bell curve), and the average is useful. If they’re far apart, then the values are not normally distributed and the median is the better representation.
Under what conditions is the mean preferred?
The mean is usually the best measure of central tendency to use when your data distribution is continuous and symmetrical, such as when your data is normally distributed.