Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with your own examples related to the development?

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Why do we use averages?

Averages are used in various fields, including statistics, mathematics, economics, and finance, to provide a representative value or measure of central tendency for a set of data. The primary reason for using averages is to simplify complex data sets and make them easier to understand and analyze. Averages are used to summarize data and to draw conclusions about the data set as a whole.

Limitations of using averages

While averages are useful in many situations, they have some limitations that should be considered when using them. Some of these limitations include:

Sensitivity to outliers: Averages can be sensitive to extreme values or outliers in a data set, which can skew the results and provide a misleading representation of the data.

Deceptive simplicity: Averages can make complex data sets appear simpler than they actually are, which can lead to oversimplification and a lack of understanding of the underlying data.

Sample size: Averages can be affected by the size of the sample used to calculate them. Smaller samples may not accurately represent the population as a whole and can lead to inaccurate results.

Examples related to development

Averages are commonly used in development to measure progress and track trends in various areas. However, they can also have limitations that need to be considered when using them. Some examples of how averages are used in development and their limitations include:

GDP per capita: GDP per capita is a commonly used average to measure a country's economic development. However, it can be misleading as it does not take into account income inequality and may not accurately reflect the standard of living of the population as a whole.

Literacy rates: Literacy rates are often used as an average to measure the level of education in a country. However, this measure does not take into account the quality of education and may not accurately reflect the level of knowledge and skills of the population.

Child mortality rates: Child mortality rates are used to measure the progress of a country in improving healthcare and reducing poverty. However, this measure does not take into account other factors that may affect child health, such as nutrition and access to clean water.

Overall, while averages are useful in many situations, they should be used with caution and their limitations should be carefully considered when interpreting data.

Answer

We use averages because they are useful for comparing differing quantities of the same category .for example ,to compute the per capital income of a country ,averages have to be used because there are difference in the incomes of diverse people .
however, there are limitations to the use of averages.
this does not show distribution of things between people.

for an example , if a country has very high per capital income then we can't say that citizen living in that country are very rich because we are not knowing about the distribution of wealth in that country .some people might be richer while other people are very poorer in that country .

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