Average is a common go-to calculation for data analysts. It’s so powerful because it allows us to summarize large data sets into a single number making it easier to communicate and be understood by our audience.
Because we are so used to seeing data summarized into an average, it’s not surprising that we can fall into the trap of thinking that it’s always appropriate to use. However, experience has taught me that defaulting to using an average calculation without first evaluating if it’s appropriate can [inadvertently] result in misleading summarizations.
So, the next time you’re thinking of calculating the average of a dataset, pause first and consider the following: