I’ve warned of the danger of averages before. Yet, I continue to see nonprofits defaulting to averages when they show data about their clients, participants, volunteers, fundraising, etc. So here’s another warning.
The visualization below (which, by the way, is called a bump chart), does a great job of illustrating the danger of averages. In this chart, average wealth is the wealth of a country’s people divided by the size of its population. So billionaires have an outsized affect on the average. That’s why the U.S. ranks 4th in average wealth but 14th in median wealth. The median is the middle value, when everyone’s wealth is arranged in order so it’s less affected by big outliers like billionaires.
Before you share an average with your board or on your website, consider what the median is. If it’s quite different from the average, you may consider showing both the average and the median or just the median.
Source: Visual Capitalist
To see past data tips, including those about other chart types, scroll down or click HERE.
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