Average
Elementary
Think of a list of numbers, like the heights of the students in a class. An average of the list is a single number that represents a typical value of it. Usually, “average” means the arithmetic mean.
Notes
In everyday use, “average” sometimes refers to the median or mode (“the average household”). In technical writing, say “mean” or “median” instead.
Distinctions involving this term
- Measures of center: The mean, median, and mode are different ways to summarize the middle of data, and they can be far apart. “Average” usually means the mean. The geometric mean averages growth factors and ratios, and the expected value is the mean of a probability distribution rather than of data.