Mean vs Median

Discussions correcting the misuse of 'average' (mean) in favor of median, especially for skewed distributions, and highlighting their statistical differences.

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Keywords

IQ ML e.g median average averages distribution funny drivers developers 10 people iq meaningfully

Sample Comments

kiliantics • Jul 7, 2020 • View on HN

average is a mean, not a median

mynewtb • May 21, 2016 • View on HN

I guess by average they meant median, not mean.

svantana • Sep 23, 2013 • View on HN

Err what? Are you not confusing averages with medians?

jshen • Jun 30, 2025 • View on HN

You shouldn't compare an average to a median in this way.

retrocryptid • Jul 31, 2024 • View on HN

Average or median? There's a difference.

erikpukinskis • Aug 3, 2023 • View on HN

Average and median are different.

leemailll • Apr 30, 2022 • View on HN

median could be average, but that depends on the probability distribution of your data

xapata • Nov 28, 2022 • View on HN

Median is sometimes more relevant than mean.

sitkack • Dec 27, 2018 • View on HN

Please stop using average. Median is a much better measure.

throwaway2037 • Feb 22, 2024 • View on HN

Do you have the same stat for median, instead of average?