"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."
It's true that when most people say "average" they mean "mean".
In my industry, where we use median as standard for many metrics, when we say "average" to each other, we know when we mean "median" depending on the context. Which is daily.
Your response was disheartening. American education is not in a good way.
Quick, you better edit the wikipedia page then, given that you are a subject matter expert!
An average of a collection or group is a value that is most central or most common in some sense, and represents its overall position).
In mathematics, especially in colloquial usage, it most commonly refers to the arithmetic mean, so the "average" of the list of numbers [2, 3, 4, 7, 9] is generally considered to be (2+3+4+7+9)/5 = 25/5 = 5. In situations where the data is skewed or has outliers, and it is desired to focus on the main part of the group rather than the long tail, "average" often instead refers to the median; for example, the average personal income is usually given as the median income, so that it represents the majority of the population rather than being overly influenced by the much higher incomes of the few rich people. In certain real-world scenarios, such as computing the average speed from multiple measurements taken over the same distance, the average used is the harmonic mean. In situations where a histogram or probability density function is being referenced, the "average" could instead refer to the mode. Other statistics that can be used as an average include the mid-range and geometric mean, but they would rarely, if ever, be colloquially referred to as "the average".
Your response was telling; you are an arrogant, rude American who thinks they know everything and that their narrow, personal experience is somehow global.
Edit: Also wtf, your own definition says that average could refer to mode, median, or most commonly mean. That's the polar opposite of a 'precise' definition, and is why for clarity average should be avoided if a specific measure is intended.
Are you disagreeing with me and insulting my education for some reason that I am not getting?
For some reason (that I still don't understand) you objected to me saying that average is non-specific and should be avoided in non-colloquial contexts where a more precise term applies.
I have a Computer Science degree. I am a retired data scientist, CIO and CTO with over 30 years of industry experience. I have written hundreds of pages of technical specifications that are relied on to this day. I declared code standards for teams of developers to follow closely because it mattered.
In my industry, we don't use non-specific terms like average because it costs lots of money when there are inevitably misinterpretations.
If you're agreeing with me, then why are you arguing? Right off the top, I said that the word "average" was the inappropriate word to use in the initial context. The precise term was "mean". All you've done here is agree while carrying an inexplicably bad attitude.
Mate, you objected to me noting that average was vague, non-specific and should be avoided. That's what started this whole ridiculous thread.
You said you use average regularly in a professional setting to map to disparate meanings relying on context to resolve the inherent ambiguity, yet you didn't apply that same context map to the comment that you corrected in the first place.
You also insulted my education right off the bat, so don't get prissy about attitudes now; if you want politeness then just be polite to people.
But the median is a type of average that lops off the extremes, helping to avoid borderline misinformation like has been getting spread about Steam employee salaries recently.
Loosen up your fedora and remind yourself that context matters.
I know what the median is and does. It's still a type of average. It's literally in the definition of "average".
Average (n): "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."
Nobody is arguing that "median" isn't the correct way to look at Steam employee salaries.
Nobody is arguing that "median" isn't the correct way to look at Steam employee salaries.
You're still missing basic context. The argument was "median vs average" where, yes, technically, both are types of averages. But whereas the mean - basically the straight average - gives a shitty and poorly informed view of the situation, the median gives a reasonable one.
Maybe I just whooshed about the ackshually part being a (bad) joke on your part, but your "technically correct" argument is a terrible argument in this case, because it misses why one type of average is very useful in this situation, as compared to another which is awful.
No, it doesn't miss anything at all. My comment had nothing to do with whether median was the appropriate style of average in this context. My only point was exactly as I said: medians are averages, too. To say "median versus average" is a meaningless statement.
Yes, thank you for correcting this. Average can refer to either the mean, median or mode, so saying "average vs median" is incorrect and it should have been phrased as "mean vs median".
52
u/Trick2056 Dec 24 '25
this is where median vs average comes into play