If the average ratings of the two products are 4.5 and 3.9, is the product with a 4.5 rating a better product for you?
If the average household income of a country went up in a specific year, does that mean every citizen made more money that year?
If the average mathematics score of a class is 70, did every student get the same score?
Averages summarise a large amount of data in a single point. But they often hide important information.
The truth about average is that majority of data points don’t sit there. Sometimes none of them meets the average value.
Averages are good at hiding the spread of data and give no indication of the extremes. They create a central line dividing everything into ‘above’ and ‘below average.’
While considering averages, it’s important to look at more detailed information and context behind it.