The average is usually very useful in statistics.
The concept of average is linked to the arithmetic mean , which consists of the result obtained by generating a division with the sum of various quantities by the digit that represents them in total. Of course, this notion is also used to name the point at which something can be divided in half or almost in the middle and to refer to the middle of a thing or situation .
The average, therefore, is a finite number that can be obtained from the sum of different values divided by the number of addends . For example: if at a dinner, eight people drink five liters of wine, it can be said that the diners have drunk an average of 0.625 liters of wine per person.
Median and mode
When working with averages, it is common for other concepts to emerge at the same time that are equally significant for analyzing the field or sector where they are being carried out. Thus, we usually talk about what is known as the median. This is neither more nor less than the term used to define the value that is in the exact middle between the maximum and minimum values of the data with which we are working.
The second concept that is used when operating with numbers and data in this sense is fashion. This is used to refer to the data that is repeated most frequently among all those.
The average and reality
The result produced by the calculation of the average, of course, does not always coincide with reality : that is why we speak of an average. Suppose that, in a neighborhood with one hundred houses, two hundred dogs live. The average indicates that there are two dogs per house . In reality, however, some houses have three or more dogs, while in others there are no dogs at all.
To calculate an average, a calculator or computer program can be used.
This shows that an average is sensitive to extreme values . Very high values tend to increase the average, while very low values reduce it. In this way, the average may no longer be representative because it is far from the population mean.
Let's take the case of a town of one hundred inhabitants. There, five of the residents earn $100,000 per month, while the other 95 residents barely receive $1,000 per month. The average will indicate that said town has an income of $5,950 per inhabitant , something quite far from reality.
A Spanish institution
In addition to all of the above, we can determine that Average is also the name of an important institution in the province of Badajoz, in Spain. Specifically under this term, which acts as a name, is the Environmental Management Consortium of the aforementioned provincial council.
This is an organization that, among other functions, is responsible for carrying out the comprehensive management of the different local environmental services. In this way, it undertakes, for example, the control and development of both activities related to water supply and urban waste.
What is achieved with this is that the municipalities that make up the province of Badajoz can make use of all these services in a quick, simple and favorable way.