Q. 16 - Elementary Statistics

Question

Duration of Marriages. The National Center for Health Statistics publishes information on the duration of marriages in Vital Statistics of the United States. Which measure of center is more appropriate for data on the duration of marriages, the mean or the median? Explain your answer.

Step-by-Step Solution

Answer

The measure of center is more appropriate for data on the duration of marriages is median

Step 1: Given information

We need to find that which measure of center is more appropriate for data on the duration of marriages, the mean or the median .

Step 2: Explanation

Median is the most robust estimator to outliers .

if the  distribution is extremely skewed, then the estimate of central tendency may well be the median because it is not affected by the presence of extreme values. It is literally, the middle value. Mean on the other hand is extremely sensitive to extreme values.  The median is simply the point where $50\%$ of the data is above and$50\%$ is below. It's a good, intuitive metric of centrality that is good at representing a  middle value.

So median will be used.