• zeca@lemmy.eco.br
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      11 days ago

      neither vague nor a definition

      average is the sum of a list of values divided by the size of the list.

      • rockerface 🇺🇦@lemm.ee
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        11 days ago

        Well, if you look at the average salary across the whole world, an overwhelming majority of people doesn’t make enough money to survive, so there’s that

      • masterspace@lemmy.ca
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        11 days ago

        No. If you’re going to be pedantic, at least be right.

        Average

        noun

        1. a number expressing the central or typical value in a set of data, in particular the mode, median, or (most commonly) the mean, which is calculated by dividing the sum of the values in the set by their number.

        The term average, inherently refers to at least three different ways to calculate the central value in a data set. What you’re talking about is mean, but it can also mean mode, or median, and there are other, even, more complicated calculations than those depending on your context.

        So yes, average, is an inherently vague and hard to define term.

        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average

      • thisfro@slrpnk.net
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        11 days ago

        I was under the impression mean and average were used interchangeably, but I’m not a native speaker.

        What I meant was mean salary indeed. But median would probably be more adequate.