Misleading Averages
Jerry Johnson
Universtity of Nevada
The average (or mean) of a list of numbers is their sum divided by the number
of numbers in the set. What about an average rate, such as an average percent? For
example how does one define the average rate of taxation of a group of people? We will
see that averages can be misleading especially if one is not careful about what an
average rate means.
The Mathematics involved is arithmetic, percents and averages.
Suggested grade levels: 11 and up due to subject matter and reading levels.