Talk:Arithmetic mean

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I removed this:

(When used as a noun, the word "arithmetic" is pronounced with the accent on the second syllable, but when used in the present sense, as an adjective, the accent is on the third syllable: "arithMETic".)

This just seems inappropriate to me, and even condescending, but if anybody else wants to put it back, feel free.

I put it back, but at the end.

Contents

[edit] Suggest 2 possible wiki links and 9 possible backlinks for Arithmetic mean.

An automated Wikipedia link suggester has some possible wiki link suggestions for the Arithmetic_mean article:

  • Can link horizontal bar: ...of a population. We use the name of the variable, X, with a horizontal bar over it as the symbol ("X bar") for a sample mean. Both are...
  • Can link Redmond, Washington: ...]]s. For instance, reporting the "average" annual income in Redmond, Washington as the arithmetic mean of all annual incomes would yield a ...

Additionally, there are some other articles which may be able to linked to this one (also known as "backlinks"):

  • In Cauchy distribution, can backlink sample mean: ...riables, each with a standard Cauchy distribution, then the sample mean (''X''<sub>1</sub> + ... + ''X''<sub>''n''</sub>)/''n'' has...
  • In Skewness, can backlink sample mean: ...re &sigma; is the sample standard deviation and &mu; is the sample mean....
  • In Lexington, Kentucky, can backlink mean average: ...wspaper: [[Lexington Herald-Leader]] === Climate === The mean average temperature in Lexington is 54.9 °F (13 °C). Annual precipi...
  • In PILOT, can backlink arithmetic mean: ...:''' Compute and assign numeric value. Example: R:Assign arithmetic mean of #X and #Y to #AM...
  • In Log-normal distribution, can backlink arithmetic mean: ...e used to estimate confidence intervals akin to the way the arithmetic mean and...
  • In Anomaly time series, can backlink arithmetic mean: ...cycle of some variable is to be subtracted. Instead of the arithmetic mean, other indicators of [[locality]] may also be used, such as...
  • In Errors and residuals in statistics, can backlink sample mean: ... :<math>X_1, \dots, X_n\sim N( u,\sigma^2)</math> and the sample mean is a random variable distributed thus:...
  • In Cochran's theorem, can backlink sample mean: ... and 1 degree of freedom respectively. This shows that the sample mean and sample variance are independent; also...
  • In Ancillary statistic, can backlink sample mean: ...<math>\overline{X}_n=(X_1+\,\cdots\,+X_n)/n</math> :be the sample mean. The [[random variable]]...

Notes: The article text has not been changed in any way; Some of these suggestions may be wrong, some may be right.
Feedback: I like it, I hate it, Please don't link to — LinkBot 11:27, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I took care of them! --ZeroOne 18:39, 1 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Notation

Is there any simple (i.e. not summation) way to denote a mean of a, b, and c within an expression? The best I know of is: average (a,b,c), which doesn’t even seem half-decent. Would µ or x̅ be used in place of “'average”? (Should µ be italicized in the article?) —Frungi 07:38, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Resolution

I have been looking for information on this, but I can't find anything to back it up. I once read another issue w/ arithmetic mean is that you get a false sense of resolution in your measurements. For example, if I am measuring temperature over 10 days and each day I can only measure to the nearest degree (meaning 45 degrees or 46 degrees), then it is possible with a data set of (43, 46, 46, 47, 50, 54, 52, 51, 50, 49) to end up with an average temperature of 48.8, making it seem that I can measure with that level of accuracy, which isn't true. While not a real issue with this case, it can be problematic within the science realm. --ronb 20:33, 7 Feb 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 'Problems with the mean' section

Do you guys think maybe this section is a bit cluttered and could stand a small cleanup? --ronb 20:34, 7 Feb 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Empirical mean

Empirical mean redirects here, but the term is not referenced in this page. Is it just a synonym for "Arithmetic mean"? If so, that should be stated. Hv 13:57, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

I came to this talk page with exactly the same issue as Hv but 7 months later.—PaulTanenbaum 12:49, 27 September 2007 (UTC)
See empirical measure for explanation what empirical mean means. (Igny 14:35, 27 September 2007 (UTC))

[edit] silly redirect?

i don't think "sample mean" should redirect here... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.183.135.40 (talk) 01:59, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Added the POV tag

The whole section about calling a numerical average (or arithmetic mean or whatever you want to call it) an "average" being WRONG WRONG BAD is completely POV. Just because you personally don't call it that, doesn't mean it isn't in use. Webster backs me up, and so does dictionary.com, see definition nunber 2 in both. If you want to be a linguistic prescriptivist, keep it out of wikipedia mabye? If it doesn't change in a few days, I guess I'll have a crack at fixing it. Thanks all. 219.78.90.231 (talk) 09:26, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

You were quite right there. This text was added by in a series of edits on 7–8 December by a user who hasn't made any edits since then. I've altered it to something shorter and more neutral but I'm happy for that to be edited further. I've removed the POV tag. I've also removed the sentence about skewness from the lead of the article as it was distracting and out of place. Qwfp (talk) 10:13, 10 March 2008 (UTC)