STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Strategic Management

Strategic Management

Introduction

One of the most common statistical analyses used in descriptive statistics is a process to determine where the average of a set of values falls. There are multiple ways to determine the middle of a group of numbers, and the method used to find the average will determine what information is known and how that average should be interpreted. Depending on the data one has, some methods for finding the average may be more appropriate than others.

The average describes the typical or most common number in a group of numbers. It is the one value that best represents the entire group of values. Averages are used in most statistical analyses, and even in everyday life. If one wanted to find the typical house price, family size, or score on a test, some form of average would be computed each time. In fact, one would compute a different type of average for each of those three examples.

Researchers use different ways to calculate the average, based on the types of numbers they are examining. Some numbers, measured on the nominal level of measurement, are not appropriate to do some types of averaging. For example, if one were examining the variable of types of vegetables, and the labels of the levels were cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, and turnips, if one performed some types of average, one may find that the average vegetable was 3/4 carrot and 1/4 turnip, which makes no sense at all. Similarly, using some types of average on interval-level continuous variables may result in an average that is very imprecise and not very representative of the sample one is using. When the three main methods for examining the average are collectively discussed, they are referred to as measures of central tendency. The three primary measures of central tendency commonly used by researchers are the mean , the median , and the mode.

Median

The median is the second measure of central tendency. It is defined as the score that cuts the distribution exactly in half. Much as the mean can be described as the balance point, where the values on each side are identical, the median is the point where the number of scores on each side is equal. As such, the median is influenced more by the number of scores in the distribution than by the values of the scores in the distribution. The median is also the same as the 50th percentile of any distribution. Generally the median is not abbreviated or symbolized, but occasionally Mdn is used.

The median is simple to identify. The method used to calculate the median is the same for both samples and populations. It requires only two steps to calculate the median. In the first step, order the numbers in the sample from lowest to highest. So if one were to use the homework scores from the mean example, 10, 8, 5, 7, and 9, one would first order them 5, 7, 8, 9, ...