29: Which Measure to Use? Mean, Median, Mode

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Which Measure to Use?

  • The mean is the most stable measure and should be used if the distribution is reasonably symmetric and the data is of the interval or ratio level.
  • For a highly skewed distribution of the interval, ratio, or ordinal type, the median is often the best measure to use.
  • For nominal scales, the mode is the only one that can be used.
  • Although is it often helpful to report all of the measures to give the reader more information about the distribution.