Re: Women get more jail time for forgetting kids in cars


"the wharf rat" <wrat@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:f8ipdd$6lp$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In article <WS1ri.8839$AE4.8145@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
MSNothing <msnothing@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Very telling when they take median instead of average

The median is generally a better measure of central tendency
than the mean unless the distribution closely approximates the normal.



The median can be very bad if there are a large number of people on either
end of the scale though, and unless we can see the actual number it is hard
to tell which is better. Since that entire story seemed to be about how
women are getting the shaft, it isn't too far fetched to see WHY they would
use the median vice the average if the average doesn't tell the story they
want to tell.

e.g. (simple example)

3 women are given sentences of 5, 4 and no jail time. Men are given 5 , 3
and 3. In this example the median for women is 4 years and for men is 3
years, but WHO is really getting screwed here.

Plus , the stats don't tell WHY the women were given the 'longer' sentences,
were the circumstances such the women deserved those so called long
sentences.



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Poll of Usage of the Word, "Average"
    ... Honestly, I have never met anyone in mathematics, engineering or ... Yes, in the UK this would be a standard usage for "average", and the OED gives an example of the use of "average" to include the median. ... We rarely use average because it is a vague term, covering a host of different measures of central tendency. ... Department of Mathematics and Statistics ...
    (sci.stat.math)
  • Re: What is difference between "mean" and "average"?
    ... The median is the middle value - 3 in this example. ... There are other measures of central tendency, ... "Various models were then grouped into four weight range ... minimum, mean, and average specifications were identified for each weight ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Poll of Usage of the Word, "Average"
    ... the median is a type of average. ... engineer) mean measure of central tendency, ... the indexes of several statistics books. ... acrimonious thread a year or two ago in the sci.stat.* groups. ...
    (sci.stat.math)
  • Re: What is difference between "mean" and "average"?
    ... The median is the middle value - 3 in this example. ... There are other measures of central tendency, ... I have no Idea what your quoted sentence is trying to ... "Various models were then grouped into four weight range categories, ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Median & Mode
    ... measures of central tendency. ... But if you use a code module and References, ... a generic description of Median is -- ...
    (microsoft.public.access.reports)