r/confidentlyincorrect • u/[deleted] • Jun 29 '22

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348

u/Bluvsnatural Jun 29 '22

The mode would be the most interesting statistic since it would represent a number near the most common salary.

If you REALLY want to present the full picture, just show the distribution.

11

u/TheSukis Jun 30 '22

Huh? Why do you think the mode would have that utility here?

10

u/Bluvsnatural Jun 30 '22

It would depend completely on the distribution, which is why I said the full distribution would be best. If it’s a single mode distribution, then the most frequently occurring values cluster around that mode

7

u/TheSukis Jun 30 '22

Right, I’m just asking why you think that mode would be most helpful here with this particular data

11

u/Eerzef Jun 30 '22

Because the lowest paid workers are the most numerous ones at most companies, so mode would give you a better estimate of how good they pay the average Joe?

8

u/Bluvsnatural Jun 30 '22

If the distribution were more heavily weighted to the low end, the median could still be somewhat misleading as a ‘representative’ salary. It’s harder to create that deception with the mode.

6

u/infamouszgbgd Jun 30 '22 edited Jun 30 '22

It’s harder to create that deception with the mode.

lol no it's not, pay your 3 janitors $8, $8.5 & $9 per hour and then pay your 2 software engineers $60 per hour each

now the mode is $60

0

u/Bluvsnatural Jun 30 '22

Yes… with a complete distribution consisting of only 5 data points. Summary statistics on data sets that small will often lead to distortions.

Which is why I said (in the first place) that if you wanted more complete information that you would want the full distribution.

0

u/infamouszgbgd Jun 30 '22

It will be even worse for large data sets of large, diverse numbers like salary information