Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Choosing the appropriate measure of central tendency: mean, median, or mode?

  • REVIEW
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Mean, median, and mode are among the most basic and consistently used measures of central tendency in statistical analysis and are crucial for simplifying data sets to a single value. However, there is a lack of understanding of when to use each metric and how various factors can impact these values. The aim of this article is to clarify some of the confusion related to each measure and explain how to select the appropriate metric for a given data set. The authors present this work as an educational resource, ensuring that these common statistical concepts are better understood throughout the Orthopedic research community.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Andrade C (2020) understanding the difference between standard deviation and standard error of the mean, and knowing when to use which. Indian J Psychol Med 42:409–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Donohue BF, Lubitz MG, Kremchek TE (2019) Elbow ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction using the novel docking plus technique in 324 athletes. Sports Med Open 5:3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Freedman KB, Back S, Bernstein J (2001) Sample size and statistical power of randomised, controlled trials in orthopaedics. J Bone Joint Surg Br 83:397–402

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kaliyadan F, Kulkarni V (2019) Types of variables, descriptive statistics, and sample size. Indian Dermatol Online J 10:82–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Krithikadatta J (2014) Normal distribution. J Conserv Dent 17:96–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Lee DK, In J, Lee S (2015) Standard deviation and standard error of the mean. Korean J Anesthesiol 68:220–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Ma D (2011) When Bill Gates walks into a bar. In: introductory statistics. Available via https://introductorystats.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/when-bill-gates-walks-into-a-bar/. Accessed 23 Sept 2022

  8. Manikandan S (2011) Measures of central tendency: median and mode. J Pharmacol Pharmacother 2:214–215

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Manikandan S (2011) Measures of central tendency: the mean. J Pharmacol Pharmacother 2:140–142

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. McGrath S, Zhao X, Qin ZZ, Steele R, Benedetti A (2019) One-sample aggregate data meta-analysis of medians. Stat Med 8:969–984

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Norton BJ, Strube MJ (2001) Understanding statistical power. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 31:307–315

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Reito A, Raittio L, Helminen O (2020) Revisiting the sample size and statistical power of randomized controlled trials in orthopaedics after 2 decades. JBJS Rev 8:e0079–e0079

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, USA

    Arjun Khorana, Ayoosh Pareek, Sophia J. Madjarova, Kyle N. Kunze, Benedict U. Nwachukwu & Riley J. Williams III

  2. Institut du Movement et de l’appareil Locomoteur, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France

    Matthieu Ollivier

  3. Department of Orthopaedics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Jón Karlsson

  4. Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Erick M. Marigi

Authors
  1. Arjun Khorana
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ayoosh Pareek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Matthieu Ollivier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sophia J. Madjarova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kyle N. Kunze
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Benedict U. Nwachukwu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Jón Karlsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Erick M. Marigi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Riley J. Williams III
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ayoosh Pareek.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Khorana, A., Pareek, A., Ollivier, M. et al. Choosing the appropriate measure of central tendency: mean, median, or mode?. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 31, 12–15 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-022-07204-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-022-07204-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation