Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!weyrich!orville From: orville@weyrich.UUCP (Orville R. Weyrich) Newsgroups: comp.software-eng Subject: Re: bridge building and discipline Message-ID: <1991May17.113844.14689@weyrich.UUCP> Date: 17 May 91 11:38:44 GMT References: <1991May15.223719.10256@auto-trol.com> Reply-To: orville@weyrich.UUCP (Orville R. Weyrich) Distribution: na Organization: Weyrich Computer Consulting Lines: 22 In article jgautier@vangogh.ads.com (Jorge Gautier) writes: >In article <1991May15.223719.10256@auto-trol.com> alesha@auto-trol.com (Alec Sharp) writes: >> Half the software developers out there are below average. Half the >> managers are below average. > >Really? Well, if this were so, then the other halves would be above >average, wouldn't they? Are you sure you don't mean median instead of >average? If you're talking average, the majority could be either >above or below the average. And what's the metric here anyway? The word "average" is a bit ambiguous. It can mean "aritmetic mean", "median", or something else. Most often it means "arithmetic mean". In the case where the distribution is assumed to be normal (very common, because of the central limit theorem), then "arithmetic mean" and "median" are both estimators for the same quantity. -------------------------------------- ****************************** Orville R. Weyrich, Jr., Ph.D. Certified Systems Professional Internet: orville%weyrich@uunet.uu.net Weyrich Computer Consulting Voice: (602) 391-0821 POB 5782, Scottsdale, AZ 85261 Fax: (602) 391-0023 (Yes! I'm available) -------------------------------------- ******************************