The average value of a function over a closed interval can be interpreted geometrically as the height of a rectangle whose area equals the net area under the curve across that interval. This net area accounts for both positive and negative contributions of the function, providing a single representative value that reflects the function’s overall behaviorA practical illustration of this idea arises when monitoring the temperature inside a greenhouse over a twenty-four-hour period. Although...

The arithmetic mean is the most commonly used measure of the central tendency of a data set. It is defined as the sum of all the elements constituting the data set, divided by the total number of elements. It is sometimes loosely referred to as the “average.”
When all the values in a data set are not unique, the sum in the numerator can be calculated by multiplying each distinct value by its frequency.
Sometimes, the arithmetic mean of a sample can be affected by a few data points...

The science of statistics involves collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting data. The method of collecting, organizing, and summarizing data is called descriptive statistics. The systematic method of drawing inferences from the sample data and predicting unknown characteristics of a population is called inferential statistics.
In statistics, the collection of individuals or objects under study is called population. The idea of sampling is to select a portion of the larger population...

The "center" of a data set is also a way of describing location. The two most widely used measures of the "center" of the data are the mean (average) and the median. The words "mean" and "average" are often used interchangeably. The substitution of one word for the other is common practice. The technical term is "arithmetic mean" and "average" is technically a center location. However, in practice among non-statisticians,...

The root mean square (RMS) value is a measure of the effective or average value of an alternating current (AC) waveform. In AC circuits, the voltage or current waveform constantly changes direction and magnitude, making it difficult to describe with a single value. The RMS value provides a convenient way to calculate the equivalent DC voltage or current that would produce the same heating effect in a resistor as the AC waveform.
Mathematically, the RMS value of an AC waveform is the square root...

In the field of psychology, there are several ways to organize measurements of a trait, feature, or characteristic (i.e., variables). Qualitative data, such as ethnicity, can be tabulated into a frequency count to provide information about the proportion, as well as the variety of groups in a sample or population. On the other hand, researchers can perform a wider set of calculations on quantitative data. The mean, mode, and median, for instance, are central tendency measures to identify a...