Summarizing Numeric Data Choosing a Center Metric | Data Characteristic | Recommended Measure | Rationale | |---|---|---| | Symmetric, outlier-free | Mean | Maximally efficient estimator | | Asymmetric or outlier-heavy | Median | Unaffected by extreme values | | Non-numeric or ranked | Mode | Sole option for categorical data | | Business KPIs like revenue per user | Both mean and median | The gap between them reveals skewness | Guideline: For any business metric, present the mean alongside the median. When they differ substantially, the distribution is skewed and the mean by itself will misle…