Measures of Central Tendency

The mean salary is often used to describe the salaries of employees of a company. However, the median
salary may be a better measure of the salaries in comparison to the mean. Research a career you are
interested in and calculate the mean and median salaries using at least ten data points. Include the
calculations and the data source(s). Which is the better measure of central tendency? Why? Review and
respond to the comments posted by your peers and offer your insight on this topic. Do you agree or disagree
with their selection? Why or why not?
* Instructor comments*
I like this simple and easy to use resource for making box plots:
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/BoxPlot/
This is a good place for an example: http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsbarsh/Businessstat/otherapplets/Descriptive.htm
If you have an even number of data points, then you average the 5th and 6th elements (when placed in
numerical order) to obtain the median.
The median divides the original data set into equal-sized halves; repeat the procedure with these new smaller
data sets to find the first and third quartiles. Pay attention to whether these new smaller sets have an even or
odd number of elements!
This post seems to focus on the mean and median, but there is another measure of central tendency – the
mode.
In what situations and what variables would the mode be the best choice as the measure of central tendency?
This side question has nothing to do with salaries, they are continuous quantitative variables.

Sample Solution

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