Which is Best: Mean or Median
Unit 3 Discussion – Which is Best: Mean or Median?
This week you will use the Bureau of Labor Statistics website to search for income data on the occupation you are seeking. Visit the following website:
The BLS has wage information for hundreds of jobs and data can also be found by state. There is much information here so take some time to browse around.
Once you arrive at the site, complete the following steps to gather the data you need to answer the discussion questions.
Part 1
- Search for information on your occupation by clicking on national wage data 800 occupations. This will take you to the Occupational Employment Statistics page.
- Scroll to the bottom of that page for a table listing the major and sub-job categories. Note in the first column there is an occupation code. For example, accountants and auditors have the code 13-2011 and are listed under banking and financial operations.
- Click on the job title to find earnings information. There you will find mean wages as well as percentiles and the 5-number summary.
- Compare the mean and median pays. For example, the mean pay for accountants was $78,800 and the median was $70,500.
- Record the information on percentiles, the 5-number summary, the mean and the median.
Part 2
- Above the data on the occupation page, you will find the following links:
- National estimates for this occupation
- Industry profile for this occupation
- Geographic profile for this occupation.
- Select the geographic profile to view maps of the states.
- Scroll down to the map that presents mean wages by state using the color code.
- Compare the ranges of wages of the states based on the ranges presented.
- Identify the highest paying and lowest paying states.
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