Mean

The mean is a parameter that measures the central location of the distribution of a random variable and is an important statistic that is widely reported in scientific literature. Although the arithmetic mean is the most commonly used statistic in describing the central location of the sample data, other variations of it, such as the truncated mean, the interquartile mean, and the geometric mean, may be better suited in a given circumstance. The characteristics of the data dictate which one of them should be used. Regardless of which mean is used, the sample mean remains a random variable. It varies with each sample that is taken from the same population. This entry discusses the use of mean in probability and statistics, differentiates between the arithmetic ...