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    tawagner's Avatar
    tawagner Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Jun 30, 2010, 03:53 PM
    Can the median be used as a measure of central tendency in a skewed distribution
    Can the median be used as a measure of central tendency in a skewed distribution, as the mean would not be a good representation due to the extreme score?
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    Unknown008 Posts: 8,076, Reputation: 723
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    #2

    Jul 1, 2010, 09:40 AM

    Yes, if you had for example:

    41 41 42 43 45 46 48 49 60

    The best measure to be taken to have a good estimate of the distribution as central tendency is 45, the median. The mean will not be good because of the outlier 60, and the mode gives 41, which is the lowest value, not the central tendency.
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