PSY201H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Central Tendency, Interval Ratio, Statistical Inference
Document Summary
Mean is usually the preferred measure of central tendency. The mean uses every score in the distribution and typically produces a good representative value. The mean is also closely related to variance and standard deviation which are the most common measures of variability. This makes the mean a valuable measure for purposes of inferential statistics. When to use the median: extreme scores or skewed distributions - numerical values. The data consists of numerical values (interval or ratio scales) for which you would normally compute the mean; however, this case involves a special problem thus it is impossible to compute the mean. When a distribution is skewed or has extreme scores (scores that are very different in value from others), the mean may not be a good representative of the majority of the distribution. The extreme scores can have a large influence and cause the mean to be displaced.
