The Mean

The mean is sometimes referred to as the average. The mean is also sometimes called sample mean or arithmatic mean. Sometimes, Mean Median Mode is replaced by Mean Median Average. However, the meaning of Mean Median Mode is different from Mean Median Average. Lets examine the definition of mean, median, mode, and average below.

Simple mean or arithmatic mean

The simple mean or arithmatic mean is simply the average of all the items in a sample. To compute a sample mean or arithmatic mean, add up all the sample values and divide by the size of the sample. This is the same method as finding an average. So, simple mean and arithmatic mean are the same as the average.

Geometric mean

The geometric mean is a measure of central tendency, just like a median. Geometric mean is different from the simple mean or arithmatic mean. Geometric mean is also more complicated to calculate. Instead of adding values, multiplication rather than addition is used to summarize data values to calculate geometric mean.

Definition of geometric mean

The geometric mean is defined as the nth root of the product of all the numbers of the set where n is the number of numbers in the set.

Example of geometric mean

What is the geometric mean of 2, 4, and 8?

First we multiply the three numbers 2 x 4 x 8 = 64.

Second, we need to find the cube (3rd root) root of 64. In this case the root is 4. So the geometric mean is 4. The cube root of a number is not easy to calculate. Unless you have a mathematical calculator or a computer or the answer is easy to spot, it will be difficult to calculate the geometric mean of a series of numbers.

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