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?