The mean, often referred to as the average, is a measure of central tendency that is widely used in statistics to summarize a set of data. It is calculated by summing all the values in a dataset and then dividing by the number of values. This measure provides a single value that represents the center of the data distribution, making it useful for comparing different datasets or understanding the general trend of a dataset. The mean is sensitive to extreme values, or outliers, which can skew the result and may not accurately reflect the typical value in a dataset. Therefore, while it is a valuable statistical tool, it should be used with caution, especially in datasets with significant variability or outliers (Smith & Jones, 2020).
References
Smith, J., & Jones, A. (2020). Understanding statistics: A guide for beginners. New York: Academic Press.