Every data set has three averages. Picking the wrong one is the most common chart-lie in journalism.
There is a lot of jargon around this one. Strip it away and the math is genuinely simple. Every data set has three averages. Picking the wrong one is the most common chart-lie in journalism.
Sum ÷ count. Sensitive to outliers.
Middle value when sorted. Robust to outliers.
Most frequent value. Useful for categorical data.
Can a data set have multiple modes? Yes — bimodal and multimodal are common.
Why do polls report median household income? Because mean is inflated by the top 1% and misleads about typical experience.
Run your own numbers before you trust a rule of thumb. Two minutes saves a lot of regret.