That's why I'm wondering if there's another reason they're using median instead of mean.
I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.
Spike ,'Sleeper'
Natter 47: My Brilliance Is Wasted On You People
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Topic!Cindy - Oct 17, 2006 8:09:55 am PDT #3973 of 10001
What is even happening?
Tom Scola - Oct 17, 2006 8:10:12 am PDT #3974 of 10001
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.
Is there a particular advantage to looking at the median, rather than the mean, in a table like the one linked above?
The distribution isn't bell-curve shaped. There will be quite a few people getting married in their twenties, and it will tail off as people get older. While there may be only a few people getting married in their 90s, it will make the average much higher than the median, and misrepresent the data.
flea - Oct 17, 2006 8:10:36 am PDT #3975 of 10001
information libertarian
My guess (ex-cloaca) is that in 1890 people waited to get married until they could afford to set up their own households, i.e. in rural areas. It took a while to amass the cash to do that.
megan walker - Oct 17, 2006 8:10:37 am PDT #3976 of 10001
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
What I found interesting (and comforting I guess) in the marriage stats was the huge jump in the "Never Marrieds" found here: Percent Never Married 1970-2004
Jesse - Oct 17, 2006 8:10:48 am PDT #3977 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Is there a particular advantage to looking at the median, rather than the mean, in a table like the one linked above?
I think it guards against outliers, so someone marrying for the first time at 50 doesn't throw it off as much as it would in a mean. If you have 15, 20, 20, 20, 25, 25, 50, the median is 20, but the mean is 25.
Topic!Cindy - Oct 17, 2006 8:13:24 am PDT #3978 of 10001
What is even happening?
Okay, that makes sense. Well then, I want all these tables in median, mean, and mode.
Topic!Cindy - Oct 17, 2006 8:13:55 am PDT #3979 of 10001
What is even happening?
I also want a cookie for remembering 'mode'.
flea - Oct 17, 2006 8:14:05 am PDT #3980 of 10001
information libertarian
I want a pony.
Jesse - Oct 17, 2006 8:15:11 am PDT #3981 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
The mode in my post is 20.
Anyway, married couples aren't even the majority amoung households anymore. [link]
Topic!Cindy - Oct 17, 2006 8:24:48 am PDT #3982 of 10001
What is even happening?
The mode in my post is 20.
Yep. I just want to see the actual marriage data presented all three ways. And the aforementioned cookie. Or two.
ION, bon bon, I've spent far too much time enjoying the tea partay video.