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Author Topic: O'Rourke on Obama  (Read 8469 times)

MicroBalrog

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Re: O'Rourke on Obama
« Reply #25 on: May 11, 2009, 07:07:43 AM »
Well, what can I say. I know that some people use it this way, but that's not what it means on mathematics exams. :D Oh well.
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KD5NRH

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Re: O'Rourke on Obama
« Reply #26 on: May 11, 2009, 07:30:59 AM »
Quote from: MicroBalrog on May 11, 2009, 07:07:43 AM
Well, what can I say. I know that some people use it this way, but that's not what it means on mathematics exams. :D Oh well.

Clearly, you didn't benefit from having a math teacher who also taught English.  (And physics and chemistry for that matter.)  He would throw in things like multiple choice "find the average" questions where none of the possible choices was the mean, but one was the median or mode.  The ability to discern how someone is justifying a claim like "above average" by using median or mode is a useful skill.

(For the record, whoever decided to lump mode in as a type of average should be beaten, ostracized and hanged.  While mean is common and median is somewhat useful, I doubt anyone other than cryptanalysts and marketers can even make the connection between "mode" and "average" without having to stop and think about it.)

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MicroBalrog

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Re: O'Rourke on Obama
« Reply #27 on: May 11, 2009, 11:36:53 AM »
When last I did a mathematics exam, it was part of the GRE. There the instructions used "median" and "average" separately.
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Destroy The Enemy in Hand-to-Hand Combat.

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roo_ster

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Re: O'Rourke on Obama
« Reply #28 on: May 11, 2009, 11:50:20 AM »
Quote from: MicroBalrog on May 11, 2009, 11:36:53 AM
When last I did a mathematics exam, it was part of the GRE. There the instructions used "median" and "average" separately.

In both stats courses I took, "average" was a superset consisting of mean, median, and mode.  Best practices required that one use the m-word, but context can also indicate the particular concept.

I would join KD5NRH in his beat-down of the "mode man."
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Perd Hapley

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Re: O'Rourke on Obama
« Reply #29 on: May 11, 2009, 02:42:24 PM »
Wait, weren't we talking about a PJ O'Rourke column?   :laugh:
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makattak

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Re: O'Rourke on Obama
« Reply #30 on: May 11, 2009, 02:54:01 PM »
Quote from: fistful on May 11, 2009, 02:42:24 PM
Wait, weren't we talking about a PJ O'Rourke column?   :laugh:

The average post says yes.
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Matthew Carberry

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Re: O'Rourke on Obama
« Reply #31 on: May 11, 2009, 03:23:23 PM »
Talking about statistics falls within the standard deviation of the usual PJ O'Rourke thread.
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Perd Hapley

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Re: O'Rourke on Obama
« Reply #32 on: May 11, 2009, 03:46:47 PM »
By "usual' do you mean average, mean, median, or mode? 
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makattak

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Re: O'Rourke on Obama
« Reply #33 on: May 11, 2009, 03:51:09 PM »
Quote from: fistful on May 11, 2009, 03:46:47 PM
By "usual' do you mean average, mean, median, or mode? 

Yes, the average.
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I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.

So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you also were meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought

Rudy Kohn

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Re: O'Rourke on Obama
« Reply #34 on: May 11, 2009, 04:20:58 PM »
If we assume a normal distribution, then the median and the mean should be equal.  (So should the mode.)

I thought IQs generally (were supposed to) fall into a normal distribution--a Gaussian centered at 100, with a standard deviation of around 10 points.  At least, that's the way I've always heard it.

Though, I completely understand if someone wants to dispute whether IQ measures intelligence instead.  Anyway, 50% of threads on APS have more drift than the median.  :lol:
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