Averages

You can add symbols to a graph to show the location of the mean, median, mode, or midrange of a numeric attribute. (The midrange is the "middle of the range" computed by subtracting the minimum value from the maximum value and dividing by 2.)

On axes of fully separated numeric attributes, the symbols for these various averages will appear just below the axis. The symbol points to the location of that average on the axis. With a binned axis (not fully separated), a colored line will appear below the bin that contains the average. A blue line is used for the mean, red for median, gold for mode, and green for midrange. (Note: Lines are used with binned axes because the position of cases within a bin is arbitrary. A case farther to the right than another case in the same bin does not necessarily have a greater attribute value. Thus it would be misleading to try to show exact locations of averages within bins.)

To add a symbol or line showing the location of the mean (

) or the median (

) of a numeric attribute,

1.	In the upper plot toolbar, click the triangle (mean) or the red inverted T (median).

To add a symbol or line showing the location of the mode (

) or the midrange (

) of a numeric attribute,

1.	Click the small triangular button to the right of the Averages buttons in the upper plot toolbar. This opens the Average Options menu.

2.	Choose Show Mode or Show Midrange.

Note that there may be multiple modes (most frequently occurring values) for an attribute. For binned axes, TinkerPlots considers a mode to be the bin that has the most values. Thus the values of modes can change as you change bin widths. Also, TinkerPlots doesn't show the location of modes for category attributes even though category attributes do have modes.

1.	Click the small triangular button to the right of the Averages button in the upper plot toolbar. This opens the Average Options menu.

2.	Choose Show Numeric Value(s).

You can find the values of averages without displaying those values in the plot. If you place the cursor over the average symbol in the plot, the value of the average will be displayed in the lower-left corner of the document window. For fully separated axes or histograms, you can also use a reference line to get a close estimate of the value of an average. Place the reference line directly over the average symbol and then read off the axis position at the top of the reference line.

TinkerPlots Help